

--^■(^ 




v^^ 



* <f? ^ oVJsAK * AT ^ • 




















V 



* «!5 ^ o 















v> .. -^ " ^ 









« o 






.» ^"-^^^ V 




-^0^ 







o 1 
*0r 



> . < • 












^^0^ 






























* O 



^01 














iiM r^'i[iiiiig| i ijigi|g!iii 'iii|Pjpj;jifiii» '.'ii|iii!^'ii|iiiip 



^.^^^ --'~~ _ MAP_OF THE ^ ^ ~ - ^ ^ 

~ y^^ ~ — ■"^-^ ^lioliiiim -the 

" — ^ /v/ ij/f/e// ///y ///t'f// ///r — 

//,/,;/,//„ ■,////„ r,„„//n.(ior/i'/A- ^,w/,/A, ///.„'//,< 
p]|ii.\i»i-;i.imita: pi'nusHKi* m- s.Ai'<;i*STr.s mitcuk 




VALLEY 

OF THE 

UPPER WABASH, 

INDIANA, 

AV I T H H I N T S O N ITS 

GRICULTURAL ADVANTAGES: 



DWELLING, ESTIMATES OF CULTIVATION, 



AND NOTICES OF 



LABOR-SAVING MACHINES. 



BY HENRY WILLIAM ELLSWORTH. 

r 




NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY PRATT, ROBINSON, AND CO. 

1838. 



/ 



Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by 

Henry William Ellsworth, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Columbia. 



PRINTED BY BLAlR AND RIVES, 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 



F 511- 



INTRODUCTION. 



The writer of the following pages was led to their 
preparation from a desire to answer numerous inqui- 
ries addressed to him by friends, and inability to effect 
that object, without a great expense of time and labor, 
in the ordinary modes of correspondence. To the 
daily routine of his profession, have been added the 
constant claims of an extended agency, and in the 
midst of all these duties, letter after letter has accumu- 
lated on his hands. The interrogatories, too, which 
they contained, wers often those requiring a minute 
investigation. Information has been sought in re- 
gard to the purchase and sale of lands ; the cost 
and profit of their cultivation ; the products best 
adapted to their soil; the income to be derived from 
different agricultural operations ; the benefits resulting 
from the introduction and use of various labor-saving 
machines ; together with the lines of communication 
open, or to be established, as well for travel as the 
exportation of produce. 

To impart suc'i information is the object of this 
work. Over this extended field, the writer has en- 
deavored to proceed and gather those particulars 
which will enable his readers to arrive at just conclu- 
sions in regard to the inquiries mentioned. He 
acknowledges, v/ith pleasure, the benefit he has derived 
from personal communication with many of the most 
intelligent d an successful farmers of the western 
States, whose kind attentions and assistance will bo 



» 

iv INTRODUCTION. 



long remembered. He is also indebted to others inter- 
ested in the objects he has been pursuing-, and to none 
more than the Honorable Henry L. Ellsworth, of 
Washington, District of Columbia, whose extensive 
correspondence with agriculturists throughout the 
Union, he has been permitted to examine and to use. 
From sources such as these, joined to his own obser- 
vations, has this volume been prepared. 

It is fortunate for this young country that the study 
of scientific agriculture, in its various branches, is 
fast gaining the attention of those whose discriminating 
minds perceive at once its vast advantage, and whose 
means cdlow a full indulgence in its hicrative pursuits. 
Periodicals, which have for their sole object the advance- 
ment of this great source of national aggrandizement, 
are arising into notice, and disseminating the most 
valuable information through all portions of our 
nation. It is here, if any where, that this science can 
attain its greatest height. We are emphatically an 
agricultural people, destined to derive from the pro- 
ductive country with which Providence has blessed us, 
much that will contribute to our future wealth and 
honor. Fettered by no blind attachment to customs 
which have nothing to commend them but their long 
existence ; in a new land, and surrounded by a fresher 
nature, we are free to enter on a field of hitherto un- 
known experiment, where prudence and attention 
must insure success. 

And to no portion of our Union can remarks like 
these apply with greater force than to the western 
States. The surpassinsf fertility of their soil, the gen- 
eral mildness of their climate, and their most felicitous 



INTRODUCTION. V 

position, seem to mark them as a spot more suited than 
all others to the purpose we have mentioned. And 
yet, how little has been known of their true prospects 
and condition ! Who, beyond the mountains that 
divide these States from theeastern portion of our Union, 
can estimate their wonderful rapidity of growth, and 
their approaching greatness ? Who can calculate the 
future vastness of that population, to which, not years, 
but days, and hours, and moments, are continually 
adding ? 

No better description of the actual condition of 
the northwestern .States can be found than that 
furnished in a late report from the Committee of Ways 
Means to the Legislature of New York, While 
considering the benefits to be derived from the enlarge- 
ment of the Erie canal, and the enormous results to 
ba expected from it as a thoroughfare for the immense 
products of the west, the author of that report (S. 
B. Ruggles, Esq..) presents the following graphic sketch 
of the present w-ealth and approaching greatness of 
that portion of our Union: 

'• The western termination of the Erie canal looks 
out upon Lake Erie, the most southerly and central 
of the great chain of navigable lakes, which stretches 
far into the interior from our western boundary. 
Around these inland seas, a cluster of five powerful 
States is rapidly rising. The territory which they 
comprise, and which is to become tributary to the canal, 
embraces that great area, extending from the lakes on 
the north to the Ohio on the south, and from the western 
confines of this State to the Upper Mississippi, and 
containing 280,000 square miles. To measure its extent 



Tl INTRODUCTION. 

by well known objects, it is fifteen times as large as 
that part of the State of New Yorlc, west of the county 
of Oneida ; nearly twice as large as the kingdom of 
France ; and about six times as extensive as the 
v/hole of England. It contains ] 80 millions of acres 
of arable land, a large portion of which is of surpassing 
fertihty. 

"The productive power of this region, and its capa- 
bility of supplying tonnage for export, are greatly 
strengthened by the facilities which it enjoys for cheap 
and easy transportation. In this respect, no country 
on the face of the globe enjoys greater natural advan- 
tages ; for it is nearly encircled by navigable waters ; 
and its broad area is intersected in numerous directions 
by streams furnishing ample means of conveyance, 
while unusual facihties for the construction of canals, 
and other artificial channels of communication, are 
afforded by the level and uniform character of its 
surface. 

'' These being its geographical advantages, it needs 
only the requisite number of inhabitants, to fully 
develop its agricultural resources. Its progress in 
this respect has been truly surprising. In 1816, Ohio 
was the only organized State Government within its 
limits. ]n that year, Indiana, having obtained the 
requisite number of G0,00() inhabitants, entered the 
Union, and took its place by the side of Ohio. Illinois 
and Michigan were then distant and feeble territories, 
with a few settlers thinly scattered over their broad 
surface; while Wisconsin, unknown even by name, 
was an undistinguished portion of the great JNorth- 
westcrn Territory. In the brief period of twenty-one 



INTRODUCTION. VH 

years, such has been" the influx of population into this 
great district, that Ohio, the eldest member in this 
brotherhood of nations, now numbers 1,400,000 inhab- 
itants ; Indiana, upwards of 600,000 ; Illinois and 
Michigan, (both of whom have organized their Gov- 
ernments and come into the Union,) 700,000 ; while 
west of Lake Michigan, not only is Wisconsin rapidly 
rising, but even beyond the Upper Mississippi, 30,000 
citizens have already laid the foundation of yet another 
State. Such is the onward march of this population, 
that the amount of its annual increase alone exceeds 
in number the white inhabitants of ten of the States 
of the Union. The population already embraced 
within the district in question, falls little short of three 
millions, and if the same rate of progress shall be 
maintained for the twelve years next to come, by the 
year 1850 it will exceed six millions. 

" The peculiar activity and energy of these people, 
and their power most rapidly te develop the resources 
of the broad domain which they inhabit, are also 
worthy of consideration, in estimating the eventual 
extent of their trade. They probably possess a greater 
aggregate power of production than any other portion 
equally numerous of the human race. Their popula- 
tion is made up almost exclusively of the young, the 
resolute, the vigorous, and the intelligent, who have 
gone from the more crowded communities in the 
eastern and middle portions of the Union, to seat 
themselves around this chain of waters, and there 
build up an empire. They have taken with them the 
laws, the habits, the language, and the institutions, 
civil and religious, of their parent States : but above 



Vlll INTRODUCTION. 

all, they have carried into tliat vast field an honest 
love of labor ; and in the very act of organizing their 
governments, they testified their willingness to exert 
and rely on their own energies, by prohibiting slavery 
forever, throughont all their limits." * 

Such is the present situation of these States which, 
a few short years ago, presented little else than one 
unbroken forest, tenanted alone by the untutored savage. 
How rapid and startling has been their elevation ; how 
proud their position, and how flattering: their prospects! 

From this fertile and rapidly increasing portion of 
our country, the writer has selected Indiana, and 
of that State, the rich Yalley of the Wabash, as 
the subject of his remarks throughout the following 
pages. He has done so partly because it was his 
residence, and of course best known to him ; and 
again, from its acknowledged inferiority to no portion 
of similar extent throughout the Union. Indeed, the 
position of that valley, the extraordinary productive- 
ness of its soil, its delightful climate, and its means of 
rapid communication with the markets of the northern 
and southern States, seem to designate it as a region 
better adapted than any other as the field of agricultural 
experiment, and the home of the enterprising setder. 
And if, in conclusion, he shall liave pointed out to one 
deserving emigrant the path to honorable independence, 
or added aught of interest to the abode which he has 
chosen, he will not regret the few short hours of labor 
he has spent amid the pages of this volume. 

HENRY W. ELLSWORTH. 

Lafayette. iSeptcinber, 1838. 

* For fui'thei- extracts from this valuable Report, see Appendix. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Geographical posilion of the Wabash valley — General descrip- 
tion of its soil and appearance — Causes which have existed 
to retard its settlement — Mode of their removal — Wabash 
and Erie canal — Position of Lafayette — Tippecanoe coun- 
ty — Depth of prairie soil — Geological position of Indiana 
the cause of its fertility — Coal formations at Danville, 
Illinois Page 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Danville and Mississippi railroad — Lafayette and Danville 
railroad — Advantageous provisions of its charter — Probable 
cost of the work — Amount of capital stock — Inducements 
offered capitalists for investment — Central railroad of Illi- 
nois — Great advantages to be derived from these works when 
completed — Sketch of important towns in northern Indiana: 
Fort Wayne, Wabash, Lagrove, Peru, Logansport, Delphi, 
Lafayette, South Bend, St. Jo County, Indianapolis 8 

CHAPTER HI. 

General sketch of various lines of communication between the 
eastern and western Slates — Ohio canal, Miami canal, Chi- 
cago and Illinois sloop canal — Natural communication be- 
tween the Mississippi and the Lakes by Green Bay — Lafay- 
ette and Alton railroad — New York and Erie railroad — 
Facilities of travelling afforded by these routes 17 

CHAPTER IV. 

Errors of emigrants — A healthy climate no less desirable than 
a fertile soil — Situations combining these two requisites — 
Latitude ®f the Wabash valley — Its numerous prairies one 
great cause of its advancement — Comparative importance of 
timber land and prairie — General treatment of stock and 
management of a stock farm — Rearing and exporting hogs, 
a source of great profit to the West — Stock cattle — Cultiva- 
tion of the sugar beet — Profits of a single year sufficient to 
repay the cost and ordinary expenditures of a prairie farm. . 32 



X CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

Vast agricultural importance of the Wabash and Maumee 
valle5's — Baden corn, Italian wheat, &c. — Cost of improving 
G40 acres — Cost of improving 320 acres — Ditching ma- 
chines — Hedge fences — Plan of a neat and comfortable 
" prairie cottage," for the settler — Ra3'mond's shingle-cutting 
machine — Tenoning and mortising machines — Estimate of 
the cost of cultivation and products of 320 acres in flax — 
Estimate of the cost of cultivation and products of G40 acres 
in wheat — Estimate of the cost of cultivation and products 
of 640 acres in grass 44 

CHAPTER VI. 

Exportation of hay to the southern markets -Cost per acre of 
preparing it for market — Average yield per ncre — Cost of 
transportation — Price at New Orleans — Estimate of costs 
and profits of one thousand acres seeded down Avith grass — 
Estimate of costs and profits of six hundred and forty acres — 
Hussey's mowing and reaping machine — Its great advan- 
tages 62 

CHAPTER VII. 

Adaptation of the western prairies to the cultivation of flax — 
(Quantity of seed to be sown, and time of sowing — Amount 
of stem, and its worth — Amount of seed — Amount of oil 
from a bushel of seed — Hill and Bundy's macliine for dress- 
ing flax without dew-rotting — Notice of the short staple pro- 
duced by a new process — Manufacture of paper from flax 
and other materials 79 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Manufacture of beet sugar— Broom com — Tobacco — Hemp- 
Corn stalks as fodder — Cultivation of the sun flower — 
Breaking prairie — Common and standard weight of grain — 
Recapitulation of the machines referred to in this work 93 

CHAPTER IX. 

The hour of the emigrant's departure — The true condition of 
the country he has chosen — Its intellectual and moral situa- 
tion — Its general health — The errors of the emigrant ofien 
the true cause of all his suffering — The course to be adopted 
to remove these evils — His advantages compared 108 

CHAPTER X. 

The effects resulting from the rapid means of intercourse be- 
tween distant nations — The appearance of America, as pre- 
sented, for the first time, to the traveller — The cause of her 
origin — Her present situation and prospects — The vast emi- 
gration to her borders — Conclusion of the work 119 

Appendix 129 



LETTER TO THE AUTHOR FROM THE HON. H. L. ELLS- 
WORTH, OP WASHINGTON CITY. 

WASHIJfGTON CITY, 

September, 1838. 

Mr Deaii Sin : I have just finished the perusal of your sketches of 
the " Upper Wabash," and doubt not the friends to whom they may be 
sent, will read them with the same degree of pleasure as myself. 

Your remarks on the geographical and physical advantages of that 
valley, are well calculated to arrest attention. Some of the estimates 
given of cultivation and produce, may be viewed with incredulity ; still, 
enough remains after a deduction for contingencies, to encourage and 
stimulate any one who has a spark of enterprise. 

If the health of the inhabitants can be so easily promoted, by the sub. 
stitution of a comfortable cottage and well, for the coarse log cabin and 
the running brook, I sincerely hope the adventitious aid of labor-saving 
machines, will be invoked to bring the expense within the means of 
every proprietor. A thirst for immediate profit has been too much the 
master passion of our enterprising emigrants, and hence the sacrifice of 
so many valuable lives to avarice. Health is paramount to riches, and 
I rejoice in every attempt to secure or improve it. 

May you, my dear sir, not be disappointed in your present expecta- 
tions. The field of usefulness is great, and if I am not much mistaken 
in the character of the State you have selected, you will find a generous, 
and noble hearted people, ready to appreciate professional and benevolent 
efforts. Expecting to meet the ordinary trials and discouragements of a 
new country, you will, I know, bear them with fortitude. These small 
privations of early life seem inseparable from the lot of western pioneers, 
but they greatly heighten the fruition of our riper years. 

If distance must separate us from each other, we welcome the ap- 
proach of those events which are so emphatically to remove the barriers 
of space, and afford us the endearments of social intercourse. The 
country in which you dwell, needs only to be known, that it may be 
justly estimated. I can truly say, that after a personal inspection of a 
great part of the United States, I have seen no portion of our Union 



Xn LETTER TO THE AUTHOR. 

more beautiful in its appearance, or one combining so many advantages, 
as that which is watered by the Wabash river. 

I hope you will extend agricultural improvements, as far as your means 
will allow. I shall cheerfully communicate, from time to time, such in- 
formation on that subject as I can collect. In addition to the machines 
already ordered for Lafayette, I shall soon send others, calculated for 
ditching, sowing, reaping, raking, flax pulling, &c., all of which, though 
they are of late invention, have been sufficiently tested to be introduced 
without hesitation. 

I will not add more to my letter, bearing the approval of your small 
publication. With courage to undertake, industry to execute, and 
perseverance to continue our designs, much indeed can be accomplish- 
ed in man's short existence ! But alas, "our purposes may be broken 
off," and the hopes we cherish may be blasted in the very bud of promise. 
The past admonishes us of the mutability of all things human ; con- 
firms the conviction that there is little here below which we can call 
our own, and directs our thoughts to that high destiny which awaits on 
immortality. 

With many wishes for your present and future happiness, I remain, 
as ever, 

YourSj affectionately, 

H. L. ELLSWORTH. 

To Henkt W. Ellswohth, Esq., 

Lafayette, Indiana. 



CHAPTER I. 

Geograpliical position of the Wabash valley. General description nf 
its soil and appearance. Causes which have existed to retard iLs 
settlement. Mode of their removal. Wabash and Erie canal. Po- 
sition of Lafayette, Tippecanoe county. Depth of prairie soil. 
Geological position of Indiana the cause of its fertility. Coal form- 
ations at Danville, Illisois. 

Whoever casts his e3'e over a map of the United 
States, will be struck with the geographical poshioa of 
the Wabash valley, and wonder why so little is known 
of its physical resources. The State of Indinna con- 
tains an area of 37.000, square miles, and a population 
of 700,000 inhabitants, yet the northern portion is al- 
most unsettled. That part of the State has hitherto 
been held by tribes of Indians, whose titles, if we except 
a few reserves to the Miamies, are novv'' extinguished, 
and is daily coming into market under the most favor- 
able circumstances. No location offers to the settler 
inducements superior to those presented by the valley 
we have mentioned. 

The valley of the Wabash is that tract of land rece- 
ding from 20 to 40 miles on each side of the Wabash 
river, throughout its whole extent. It may be re- 
garded as commencing about 20 miles southeast of Fort 
Wayne. The soil is one of extreme fertility, the 
climate mild, and various lines of communication are 
nov/ in process of construction, which will greatly 
facilitate emigration, while they furnish a sure eastern 
market for produce. The traveller \vho passes 
through this most productive valley, meets continually 
with much calculated to excite his admiration. For 



miles, his course frequently meanders along the borders 
of some gently rolling prairie, whose surface, as far as 
the eye can reach, seems gemmed with flowers of all 
varieties, the brilUancy of whose coloring baffles all 
description. Again, his path, more open than before, 
will lead him through these beantiful parterres of nature, 
and along the banks of many a sweet stream, that winds 
round and round in almost innumerable convolutions, 
as if flowing with reluctance to pour out its treasures 
on the waters of the Wabash. Again, leaving this en- 
chanting region, he journeys amid the deep solitudes of 
a western forest, whose silence is broken only at inter- 
vals by the bounding footstep of the deer, or the sharp 
crack of the rifle. 

The cause which has hitlicrto prevented the true ad- 
vantages of this delightful valley from being known, is 
found in the extreme difficulty of gaining access to it, 
by any of the established routes of Indiana. The 
Wabash river, susceptible as it is of improvements which 
would secure a constant navigation, has, until lately, fur- 
nished an uncertain thoroughfare. A journey to the 
Upper Wabash, from the Ohio river, by land, owing to 
the extreme roughness of the roads ; the ditficulty of 
obtaining suitable vehicles and accommodations, and 
withal the distance, was one of extreme fatigue, while all 
approach from Lake Erie, by the Indian trails and traces 
of the Maumee river, could be undertaken only with a 
sino"le horse, and often at a risk of long and serious deten- 
tion, from innumerable by-paths, and streams almost im- 
passable. The single pioneer and hardy hunter could 
indeed press through these obstacles ; but the emigrant, 
with his family, could travel only the more convenient 



routes along the borders of the State, Thousands in 
this way, emigrating from our eastern sea-ports, have 
passed from Buffalo to Detroit, from thence to Chicago, 
and finally settled on the lake shore, or near the water 
courses. This facility of water communication has al- 
ready caused the settlement of parts of Michigan. 
The enterprise of her citizens has opened roads to ihe 
interior and southern portions of her growing State, and 
many arc now emigrating from thence to the adjoining 
portions of Indiana. Those, who after a short residence 
in Michigan, dispose of lands at $15 or $25 per acre, 
can find tracts even more productive at $1 25 in 
Indiana. 

Such have been the causes which existed to retard, 
the settlement of northern and northwestern Indiana. 
They are now rapidly disappearing; a few months 
more will witness their complete removal, and an emi- 
gration to a spot so well fitted by nature to sustain it, 
will take place, hitherto unprecedented even in tlie 
history of western settlements. The magnificent in- 
ternal improvement schemes of Indiana, involving an 
expense of many millions, are fast developing the vast 
extent of her resources, and opening in all directio-ns 
certain avenues of quick communication to the enter- 
prising settler. 

During the ensuing year, (1S39,) the Wabash and 
Erie canal, a work conducted by the States of Ohio and 
Indiana, and designed to form an important link in the 
great chain of communication now opening between 
the Mississippi riv'er and the city of New York will be 
completed. At the present time boats are running daily 
from Logansportto Fort Wayne, a distance of about 80 



4 



miles. The heavy sections on the remaining portion 
of the canal between Lafayette, the head of steamboat 
navigation on tiie Wabash, and Logansport, are now 
completed, and the hghtcr are in progress, and will 
soon be finished. 

From the vigorous exertions of Ohio, and the time 
as settled by contract, there is little doubt but what that 
portion of the canal which passes through her territory 
will be completed by the 1st of October, 1839. The 
opening of this canal throughout its whole extent, will 
indeed be a proud era for the Wabash valley ; and 
furnishing, as it does, tlie most direct and natural 
cliannel of communication between the east and west, 
we can hardly estimate the travel that will flow in this 
direction. 

The place at which this great canal first strikes the 
Wabash, at a navigable point, is one of vast importance, 
and is occupied by the town of Lafayette, the county 
seat of Tippecanoe county, situated in the very heart 
of the Upper Wabash valley, at the present and per- 
haps permanent termination of the canal above de- 
scribed. At the termination of a railroad which will 
be soon constructed to the State line of Indiana, and 
thence by the State of Illinois to the Mississippi river, 
and with rail and Macadamized roads, running north 
and south to Michigan and the Ohio river, for which 
anple provision has been made, Lafayette is destined 
to become by far the largest town of the Upper Wabash 
valley ; and, with the exception of Fort Wayne, the 
most important point of northern Indiana. 

The county of Tippecanoe, in which Lafayette is 
situated, contains an area oi 504 square miles, and 



yields in point of fertility to no portion of similar extent 
throughout the State. It embodies and is immediately 
surrounded, by some of the most beautiful prairies and 
plains of Indiana — such are theWea, Shawnee, Wild 
Cat, and Grand prairies; and contains numerous rapid 
and never failing streams, affording excellent mill sites. 
Bluch of the prairie land which forms the borders of the 
Wabash is admirably adapted to grass, as well as wheat 
and grain of all descriptions, and varies in depth from 
three to thirteen feet, according to its position, as upland 
or bottom prairie. These latter acquire their depth of soil 
from annual deposites of the Wabash and other rivers. 

The opening of the Erie and Wabash canal will 
afford an immediate outlet for much of the produce of 
this and the adjacent counties. The main channel for 
the exportation of produce heretofore has been the "^v^a- 
bash river, by means of which vast quantities have 
been shipped annually to the States bordering on the 
Mississippi and to New Orleans. Many exceedingly 
profitable speculations have been made in pork, and a 
large amount is put up every season. Investments of ^ 
capital, yielding great returns, can easily be made from 
well conducted stock farms, — by raising and pressing hay 
for the southern markets, — from wheat, corn, &c. &c. 
The recent introduction of labor saving machines, all of 
v/hich are admirably calculated for the prairies, has 
materially reduced the former expense of cultivation. 
The cost of cultivation, together with the yield of dif- 
ferent grains, and the profits attending various branches 
of agriculture, v/ill be detailed under their respective 
heads hereafter. 

The geological position of Indiana is the main cause 



of its fertility, and to no porlion of the State will the 
remark apply with greater force than to the Upper 
Wabash. In addition, also, to this fertility of soil, other 
advantages occur, in the bituminous coal formations 
which are found at no great distance from the town of 
Lafayette, along the Wabash. 

The following remarks from D. D. Owen, Esq., a 
gentleman of high talent, and State geologist of Indiana, 
as embodied in his report of December, 1837, are well 
deserving a perusal. After mentioning the three prin- 
cipal geological formations of the State, which he 
classes as a bituminous coal formation, a limestone 
formation, and a diluvium, he proceeds as follows : 

"If we were to speculate from geological observations 
on the future condition of Indiana, we should say that 
the western counties are destined to become one day 
the chief manufacturing counties, since, with a iew ex- 
ceptions, all large manufacturing tov/ns and districts 
are situated on the coal formations." 

" In several places, particularly towards the base of 
the coal formation, or near its eastern boundary, as at 
Attica, Williamsport. on Pine creek, and near the French 
lick, with a little care, freestone, white and fine grained, 
and excellently suited for architectural purposes, may 
be readily obtained. In character and geological 
position it resembles the celebrated Scotch freestone, of 
which the new town of Edinburgh, and a portion of the 
town of Glasgow, are built." * * * 



"Some of our clay in the coal formation answers well 
for the manufacture of stoneware: such wares are 
now manufactured from them at Troy. 

''• It is well known to geolog-ists that that soil is most 
productive which has been derived from the destruction 
of the greatest variety of different rocks, for thus only 
is produced the due mixture of gravel, sand, clay, and 
limestone necessary to form a good medium for the 
retention and transmission of nutritive fluids, be they 
liquid or aeriform, to the roots of plants. Now, Indiana 
is situated near the middle of the great valley of north- 
western America, and far distant from the primitive 
range of mountains, and her soil is accordingly formed 
from the destruction of a vast variety of rocks, both 
crystalline and sedimentary, which have been minutely 
divided and intimately blended together by the action 
of air and water. It has all the elements, iherefore, of 
extraordinary fertility." 

The excellent locations of freestone mentioned by this 
able geologist, are nearly all situated within a few hours 
ride of Lafayette. A few miles beyond the State line 
of Indiana, immediately contiguous to Danville, a most 
flourishing town of northeastern Illinois, and the point 
of connexion between the Lafayette and Mississippi 
railroad, will be found coal formations of great depth 
and extent ; all of which can be easily worked, and the 
product conveyed along tiie lino of railroad and canal 
communication to any portion of the Upper Wabash. 
It may be well to mention, in passing, that salt-works, of 
great yield, are now in operation a few miles from 
Danville. 



CHAPTER II. 

Canville and Mississippi railroad. Lafayette and Danville railroad. 
Advantageous provisions of its charter. Probable cost of the work. 
Amount of capital stock. Inducements offered capitalists for invest- 
ment. Central railroad of Illinois.* Great advaniages to be derived 
from these Avorks when completed. Sketch of important tovvus in 
northern Indiana: Foi,"t Wa3'ne, Wabash, Lagrove, Peru, Logans- 
port, Delphi, Lafayette, South Bend, St. Jo County, Indianapolis. 

By an act passed at the General Assembly of the 
State of Illinois during its session of 1S36, securing 
similar internal improvements to those of Indiana, sums 
are provided for the completion of several works of 
great importance. We propose to notice hastily one or 
two of those connected with the outlets of the Wabash 
valley. By section 18 of the bill referred to, a siim of 
$100,000 is appropriated to remove the obstructions of 
the Wabash river, (a similar snm having been granted 
for that object by the State of Indiana.) Further ap- 
propriations have been made for this purpose, and work 
to the amount of $107,000 is now under contract. 

By the ninth clause of the same section, the follow- 
ing provision is made for a railroad " from Quincy on 
the Mississippi river, via Columbus and Cia^^ton in 
Adams county, Mount Sterling in Schuyler county, 
Meredosia and Jacksonville in Morgan county, Spring- 
field in Sangamon county, Decatur in Marion county, 
Sidney in Champaign county, and Danville in Vermil- 
lion county, and thence to the State line in the direction 
of Lafayette, Indiana, &c. tfcc. ; for the construction 
and completion of \vhich said raih'oad and appendage, 
the sum of one million eight hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars is hereby appropriated, exclusive of the neces- 
sary sum for constructing a bridge over the Illinois 
river, to be appropriated whenever said bridge may be 
authorized by the Legislature." 



Of tins railroad, designed to connect the waters of the 
Mississippi with the Wabash at Lafayette, 7S miles ai^e 
under contract^ and each mile aciuallij under work. 
Less than two years, it is supposed, will be sufficient to 
complete this great inland route, and give to the fertile 
portion of Illinois, through which this railroad passes, a 
constant market for its produce. 

The sole remaining space in this extended line of in- 
ternal improvement, is that between the Illinois State 
line and the town of Lafayette, and for wlilch provision 
has been made by an act of the General Assembly of 
Indiana, approved February 5, 1S3G. 

This act incorporates a company with extended 
powers to construct a railroad from Lafayette to the 
State line, designed to connect with the Illinois survey. 
The charter is one conferring, in many respects, extra- 
ordinary advantages, and will be found entire in No. 1, 
of the Appendix. The following abstract presents a few 
of its main l(?atures : 

1. The capital stock of said corporation is five hun- 
dred and fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of 
one hundred dollars each. 

2. Said corporation have the power of uniting with 
any other railroad or canal company which is already 
incorporated by the State of Indiana, "or with any 
other railroad or canal that may hereafter be under the 
control of this State, or any other of the United States, 
for the making of a continuation of the said railroad, 
or of any other railroad from the State line of Illinois 
to the town of Lafayette, in the State of Indiana, and 
thence to any other point in the said State of Indiana or 
other State of the Union, upon such terms as may be 



10 



agreed upon with the dh-ectors of said company, or 
agents authorized to mannue said raih'oad or canal." 

3. The said corporation are authorized and empower- 
ed to borrow any sum of moue}'', upon their own credit, 
which in iheir discretion may be deemed necessarj?-, not 
exceeding the fuU amount of their capital stock, to aid 
in the construction or repair of said work ; and in case 
it shall at any time appear to said corporation that any 
part of the money so borrowed, or any paid in by the 
stockholders, or any surplus fund belonging to said cor- 
poration, is not necessary to be retained for immediate 
use, the same be loaned on such terms as the directors 
of said corporation may in iheir discretion deem proper, 
at such rate of interest as is now allowed by the laws of 
this State to be taken for money loaned. 

4. The corporation shall commence the construction 
of said road at or near the town of Lafayette, at any 
time within three years, and from time to time construct 
so much thereof as may be within the ability and to the 
interest of the company : Provided, that the road sball 
be completed within ten years after the passage of this 
act. 

This charter is limited in its duration to fifty years.. 
It is stated by able engineers that the sum of ^3,000 
per mile is amj^le for the construction of this railroad, 
with a single track, across the prairies. Nature has al- 
ready graded nearly the whole way. The distance 
from Lafayette to the proposed point of connexion with 
the Illinois railroad, will not vary far from fifty miles, 
and the sum of .i^l50,0C0, at the rate above, would com- 
plete the work. Indeed, the interest alone on the cap- 
ital stock of $550,000, would finish the whole road 
within three years from its commencement. 



11 



The books of the company have just been opened, 
and the stock, it is presumed, will soon be taken. From 
its hberal charter and advantageous situation, hardly 
a doubt can exist in the mind of any one of the success 
of the Lafayette and Danville railroad. Eastern capital 
could doubtless be secured for an investment promising 
such sure and large returns. 

A subscription of $22.5,000 is necessary to secure the 
charter. The company is authorized to loan any part 
of its capital or surplus at the highest interest allowed 
by law, at the passage of the act, which is 10 per cent. 
This privilege secured for fifty years, without the power 
of revocation, must certainly furnish a strong induce- 
ment to the mind of every capitalist. 

Even could a doubt remain as to the income derived 
from passengers on this portion of a great national 
route, the inexhaustible beds of coal at Danville, Illi- 
nois, would furnish constant employment to any motive 
power that could be placed upon the road, and alone 
sustain the credit of the stock. The freight of ordinary 
mercliandise must also equal that on any other road of 
similar extent. 

It may be proper to add here that a railroad is now 
constructing from the confluence of the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi rivers, running through the centre of Illinois, 
and meeting the great eastern and western railroad above 
described at Decatur, about SO miles from Danville. 

Such are a few of the most important works under- 
taken by the sister States of Ilhnois and Indiana, tend- 
ing to open a direct communication between one of 
their most fertile portions, the Wabash valley, and the 
cast. A slight inspection of the map will convince the 



12 



observer that the facilities offered to the travelling com- 
munity by these routes v/ill be immense. No doubt 
can exist but that the Wabash and Erie canal, in con- 
nexion witli the Lafayette and llhnois railroad, must 
furnish the viaiii route, not only of produce but travel, 
from the western and southwestern to the eastern Stales. 
Central railroads, running lengthwise through the States 
of Indiana and Illinois to the Ohio, and intersecting, at 
favorable points, the great northern line of communi- 
cation passing through these States, from the Mississippi 
to Lake Erie, must, unquestionably, carry to the upper 
route much produce tliat lias heretofore been transported 
on the Ohio river. 

By the routes before described, travellers coming up 
the Mississippi and going eastward, can take the rail- 
road at the mouth of the Ohio, and in a single day 
arrive at Lafa\Ttte, while those from St. Ijouis can reach 
the Wabash in still less time. Allowing two days more, 
via canal, to reach Lake Erie, one day to pass over the 
same, and one day and a half (or 3G hours) by the Southern 
railroad to the city of New York, it will require only 
.5 days to reach St. liOuis from New York, and 5^ days 
from New York to the mouth of the Ohio river. 

The changes that will be elfected by the completion 
of these works, during the present and coming year, 
can be better conceived than described. An expeditious 
and convenient access for the emigrant will be presented, 
to a country whose local advantages have been hitherto 
unknown, and the most productive portions of the fer- 
tile States of Illinois and Indiana will be offered for the 
immediate occupancy of the enterprising settler. Large 
tracts of choice prairie land, ready for the -ploug-h) can 



13 



still be procured at the low price of ^1 25 per acre, 
while sufficient wood-land can be bought at no great 
distance, as it may be needed. It is indeed cheering to 
reflect, that these fertile portions of Indiana and Illinois 
are so soon destined to gain the distinction to which 
they are entitled, and tliat the varied products of their 
soil will be found in eastern markets, by the side of those 
derived frou] regions hitherto more favored. 

The traveller who^ even at the present time, passes 
along the route we have described, will be struck with 
the rapid growth and city-like appearance of many of 
its towns. From Fort Wayne, near the northeastern 
confines of the State of Indiana, formerly an Indian 
trading post, and now a point of great importance, from 
its situation on the canal, — its connexion by inland 
routes with Michigan, and the extreme productiveness of 
the surrounding counties, he will meet with a succes- 
sion of flourishing towns and villages, whose commence- 
ment and existence lie within the circle a ihw past 
years. Starting at the village of Huntington, distin- 
guished for its quarries of stone excellent for architec- 
tural purposes, and pausing a few moments, near the 
splendid reservation of six sections, granted to the chief 
of the Miamies, he finds himself within the valley of 
the Upper Wabash. Continuing his course, the new 
and stirring villages of Wabash and Lagrove soon 
meet his eye ; and a little farther on the business-like 
appearance and prosperous condition of Peru, with its 
fine court-house and other public buildings, all denot- 
ing the enterprising spirit of its inhabitants, rivet his 
attention. From thence, by a pleasant ramble of IS 
miles along the Wabash, he arrives at Logansport, a 



14 



town distinguished for tiie beauty of its site, and gene- 
ral neatness of appearance. Its reputation, as a healthy 
and agreeable residence, is not among the least of the 
advantages which it possesses. It stands at the conflu- 
ence of Eel and Wabash rivers, and derives a vast 
amount of water power from both these streams. It 
would seem, from various causes, that Logansport is 
destined to become, at no distant day, one of the most 
thriving towns upon the line of the canal. 

Followinsr the course of the canal and Wabash 
river, the next important town is Delphi, the seat of 
justice for Carroll county. Surrounded by a country 
of extreme fertility, this town seems rapidly advancing 
to an enviable situation. The canal passes through 
if, and a dam, just finished across the Wabash, furnishes 
a large amount of water power. The rich bottoms 
of the river below the town, have been long dis- 
tinguislied for their great productiveness. A few miles 
farther on will be found the recently established town 
of Americus, with quarries of fine stone, convenient 
to the river. 

The whole distance of 18 miles from Delphi to La- 
fayette, presents a succession of the most beautiful 
landscapes. Crossing the Wabash just below the town, 
and passing through the bottom prairie we have men- 
tioned, the traveller ascends by a gentle elevation to a 
reach of table land, across which lies his course for 
several miles. This short distance, however, is soon 
passed, and its termination announced by the sudden 
appearance of the beautiful valley laved by the waters 
of the Tippecanoe. Tlie fording of that rapid stream, 
and a few bounds over the velvet sward beyond, con- 



15 



vey the traveller to the foot of a steep rise, at the 
summit of which commences another of those upland 
levels, known by the appropriate appellation of " Pretty 
Prairie." A few miles along this elevation, in the course 
of which appears the celebrated battle ground of a late 
Indian war, (the scene of General William Harrison's 
exploits,) and the Wabash river is re-crossed ; the road 
passes over another of the richest lowland prairies, and 
disappears in the small forests that environ Lafeyette. 

We have as^ain reached that point, before mentioned, 
as the present and perhaps permanent termination of 
the canal connecting the waters of Lake Erie with the 
Wabash. Here, also, is the termination of the Illinois 
railroad, or the place of its connexion vi^ith the great 
c^nal. The rapid increase of the town of Lafayette, 
from a settlement of scarce ten years ago, is truly 
astonishing, and can be accounted for only by the 
extreme felicity of its position. It contains at present 
a population of above three thousand ; numerous large 
and well constructed buildings ; churches for various 
denominations ; extensive warehouses, hotels, &c. 
New buildings are constantly going up within its 
limits, and families are emigrating to it from the east, 
and from adjacent portions of the State. Steamboats, 
during the period of navigation, arrive and depart 
daily; ten were counted at the wharves at one time 
during the present season. A Macadauiized road is 
now in process of construction from Lafayette to Craw- 
fordsville, an extremely pleasant and thriving inland 
town, the seat of a flourishing college, under the 
direction of the Rev. E. Baldwin. From Crawfords- 
ville, a continuation of the road is made to Indianapohs, 
and connects there with the railrcad to the Ohio river. 



16 



Hydraulic power, of immense importance to Lafayette, 
will be created by the introduction of the Pouceau- 
pichoux, or Wild Cat river, as a feeder to the canal, 
wliilo its position at the head of steamboat navi- 
gation ; at the connexion of railroad and water com- 
munication between the Mississippi and the eastern 
States ; wiih a railroad running north to Michigan, and 
various roads to the Ohio and southern portions of the 
State, and a circumjacent country inferior to none in 
its fertility, seem to mark it as destined to become the 
largest town within the Wabash valley. Permanent 
navigation of the river will be secured by the comple- 
tion of those contracts, for which we mentioned an 
appropriation of !g 167,000. 

B;;fore leaving a subject which exhibits so conclu- 
sively the resources of northern Indiana, there remain 
one or two places of importance, worthy of a passing 
notice. Indeed, did the limits of our work allow, we 
should be pleased to take our readers with us, through 
the flourishing towns that border on the Ohio, in the 
State of Indiana, and others situated near the line of 
Michigan. Of the former we may speak at length 
hereafter, though from their size and position they have 
long been known. Of the latter we have time at 
present to select but one. This is the rapidly improving 
village of South Bend, which we mention rather as an 
introduction to St. Joseph's county. This county com- 
prises one of the best agricuUural districts in the State, 
is exceedingly well watered, and embodies several of the 
most beautiful prairies of the west. Very extensive 
formations of pure bo^ iron ore are foun.d in many 
places, and a large manufactory of iron is established 



17 



at Mishawaka, in the vicinity of South Bend. The 
advantages presented by this town and county are well 
worth the attention of the emigrant. 

Indianapohs, the capital of the State, is another place 
of great importance. It may be regarded, with a few 
exceptions, us the grand centre of the various public 
works in process of construction by the State of In- 
diana. Its present population is estimated about 3,500. 
It contains many private dwellings of great beauty, and 
its capital is remarkable as a specimen of finished ar- 
chitecture. A large amount of water power will be 
afforded by the Central canal. Whoever reflects upon 
the rapid growth and present prosperous condition of 
Indianapolis, the capital of a State containing, even 
now, 700,000 inhabitants, cannot fail to anticipate its 
standing when the population of that State, as it must 
be, shall have doubled. 



••.»»® 



CHAPTER III. 

General sketch of various lines of communication between the 
eastern and western States. __ Ohio canal, Miami canal, Chicago 
and Illinois sloop canal. Natural communication between the 
]\lississippi and the Lakes by Green bay. Lafayette and Alton 
railroad. New York and Erie railroad. Facilities of travelling 
aliorded by tliese routes. 

In continuance of our remarks on some of the more 
important works of Indiana and Illinois, we rejoice at 
the opportunity of presenting to our readers an ex- 
tended sketch of the principal lines of inter-communi« 
edition between the western States, and again between 
these States and those bordering on the Atlantic. This 
2 



18 



sketch is contained in a letter to the Hon. S. B. 
Ruggles, of New York, from the Rev. J. F. Scher- 
merhorn, a gentleman whose higli talents, extensive 
travel, and thorough acquaintance with all portions of 
our country, admirably fit him for the task proposed. 
A few of the works recommended in this communica- 
tion, (written in 1834,) have since been undertaken or 
completed. We insert the entire letter, which has never 
yet been published. 

Washington, December 24, 1834. 

Sir : Your communication of the 18th instant has 
been duly received, and I give you, with great plea- 
sure, such information as I possess, with regard to 
internal improvements in the western States. In 
answer to your important inquiries, 1 need only to 
state to you the canals and railroads that have already 
been constructed, and are now in progress, or will 
soon be commenced, to connect the waters of the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers with the Northern Lakes, to 
convince you that it is the true policy and interest of 
our State to encourage and open, without delay, every 
possible channel of communication between Lake 
Erie and the city of New York. In order to be as 
definite as possible, I will assume Clei'eland, on Lake 
Erie, as the point at which to commence the calculation 
of distances to important places on the different canals, 
lakes, and rivers, especially on the Ohio and Mississippi; 
from which you will be able to determine the shortest 
and most eligible routes to any given place. 

1. The first in order, which we shall notice, is the 
Ohio canal, which is already finished, and in success- 



19 



ful operation. This commences at Cleveland, Lake 
Erie, and terminates at Portsmouth, on the Ohio, and 
is 307 miles in length. In the following table of 
distances, the first column denotes the distance from 
one place to the other, and the second column ihe 
whole distance from Cleveland to the place men- 
tioned : 

From Cleveland Miles. 

To Ackron ...... 33 

Massilon - . . - - - 27, G5 

Columbus --.... 150^ 215 

Chillicothe .--... 40, 255 

Portsmouth ..... 50 397 

Ma3-svil]e, Kentucky .... 47^ 354 

Cincinnati ----- . 58, 432 

Goods, by this route, from the east, are landed at 
Cleveland, and there put on board of canal-boats for 
Portsmouth, and here they are re-shipped on board of 
steamboats for their place of destination. 

2. The Miami canal, which is already finished to 
Dayton, 63 miles. This will soon be completed to 
Maumee Bay, Lake Erie, making the whole distance 
from Cincinnati 265 miles. 

From Cleveland Miles. 

To Maumee Bay ..... go 

Fort Defiance, say - - - - . 50, 140 

Dayton . . - . . . 152^ 292 

Cincinnati ------ 63, 355 

Madison, Indiana - .... 89, 444 

Louisville, Kentucky . - - - 54, 498 

"Wabash river, Indiana .... 044^ 740 

By the above two routes, all the goods from New- 
York will probably be sent to different places on the 
OhiOj above the mouth of the Wabash river. And 



20 



the Miami canal route will have the decided advantage, 
l)ecaiise it is the shortest to Cincinnati by 77 miles, and 
■u'ill save one trans-shipment. 

3. The Erie and Wabash canal. This is now con- 
structinsf, and the whole distance from Lake Erie to 
Lafayette, the head of steam navigation on the Wabash^ 
is about 215 miles. 

From Cleveland 

To Maumee Bay - . - - 

Fori Defiance . - . - 

Fort Wayne, about ... 

Logansport . . . - 

Lafayette . . - - - 

Covington . . . - 

Terra Haute .... 

Vincennes .... 

White river .... 

Mouth of the Wabash ... 
Nashville, Tennessee ... 
Florence, Alabama .... 434,1,100 

You will perceive, by the examination of the above 
tables, that the distance to the Ohio river, at the mouth 
of the Wabash, by the Erie and Wabash canal, is 76 
miles nearer than by the Miami canal, and 153 miles 
nearer than by the Ohio canal ; so that the goods 
destined for places on the Cumberland and Tennessee 
rivers, and the lower part of the Ohio and Mississippi, 
will probably be forwarded through this channel, in 
preference to any other. 

4. The Chicago and Illinois sloop canal, or railroad,^ 
is intended to extend from Chicago, on Lake Michigan, 
to Illinois river, at the mouth of Little Vermillion, a 
distance of about 100 miles. This work is not yet com- 
menced, but it is deemed so important to that section of 



Miles. 


90 




50, 


140 


50, 


190 


75, 


265 


40, 


305 


53, 


358 


"1, 


4:^9 


97, 


526 


32, 


558 


108, 


665 


309, 


975 



21 



the country that there can be no doubt of its being done, 
since the Congress of the United States have granted to 
the State of lUinois 480,000 acres of land, to aid them in 
its construction. The distance by this route to the Mis- 
sissippi river, from Cleveland, is 1,23-1 miles. 

From Cleveland Miks. 

To Detroit 124 

Mackinaw 3-25, 449 

Chicago ..... 213, 824 

Liltle Vermillion river or the Illinois- - 100, 924 

The JVIississippi at the mouih of the Illinois - 250, 1,174 

St. Louis - - - - - 30, 1,204 

Should the sloop canal be constructed, as probably it 
will be, and the State of New York also make a sloop 
navigation from Oswego, on Lake Ontario, to Albany, 
around the Falls of Niagara, you will then have an unin- 
terrupted sloop or steamboat navigation from Now York, 
of about 2,000 miles to the Mississippi river; and thence 
you may proceed to any port you please on the western 
waters, or return by way of New Orleans to New York. 
In this improvement, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, 
and Michigan are deeply interested, and as much so as 
New York ; for although the distance will be greater to 
New York than by the Erie canal, or the projected 
Erie and New York railroad, yet as there will be tolls 
to pay on only about 300 miles of improved navigation, 
and the rest of the route is through the natural rivers 
and the lakes, it will always do a great share of the 
transportation of bulky and heavy articles. The ship 
canal around the falls is strictly a great national work, 
and is rendered necessary by the British, at present, 
having the decided advantage over us, on the lakes, by 
the Welland canal, and in case of war this would be 
severely felt. 



22 



There is also a natural channel of communication 
between the lakes and the Mississippi, by Green bay, 
Fox, and Wisconsin rivers, by which the distance from 
Cleveland to Prairie du Chien is about 1,180 miles. The 
Indian title to the lands to the south of this route has 
been all extinguished, and the whole country will soon 
be filled along this route to the Mississippi, by our en- 
terprising citizens. The distances by this route are : 

From Cleveland Miles. 

To Mackinaw ----- 450 

Green Bay 250, 700 

The portage between the Fox and Wisconsin 180, 880 

The Prairie du Chien or mouth of Wisconsin 150, 1,030 

This was formerly one of the principal channels 
through v/hich the Indian trade was carried on, upon 
the Mississippi ; and should this navigation be improv- 
ed, which certainly ought to be done, some considerable 
portion, if not all, of the goods destined for the Upper 
Mississippi may be sent this way. 

6, There is another improvement which ought to be 
undertaken immediately, and that is a railroad from 
Lafiiyette,* on the Erie and Wabash canal, to the Mis- 
sissippi, to terminate at St. Louis or Alton. This would 
make the distance to either of those places by this route 
upwards of 550 miles nearer than by the Miami canal 
and the Ohio and Mississippi rivers; and about the 
same distance, if not more, than by the lakes, Chicago 
canal, and Illinois and Mississippi rivers. The length 
of this railroad would be only about 210 miles, through 



* A reference to chapter 2d will show the ample provision that has 
been made for this great work. Abstracts of the internal improvement 
laws of Illinois and Indiana will be found in the Appendix. 



23 



a very fine nnd fertile country, favorable for the 
construction of a railroad, and would pass through tlie 
very heart and centre of Illinois, If this route should be 
completed, it will be the principal western route travel- 
led between New Orleans and New York, and between 
New York and tlie Upper Mississippi. 

By this route the distances from the mouth of the 
Missouri to Cleveland and New York, Vv-ould be as 
follows : 

From Mississippi Miles. 

To Lafayette 210 

Maumee Bay ..... 215, 425 

Cleveland 90, 515 

Portland 135, 650 

New York city, by projected railroad - - 450, 1,100 

If the whole of this channel of communication is 
once finished, a journey may be performed from St. 
Louis to New York within a week ; and the merchants 
from that section of the country will be able to go to 
New York, transact their business, and return home in 
less time than it now takes them to make a trip to New 
Orleans and return. The construction of the railroad 
from the Mississippi to the termination of the Erie 
and Wabash canal is not only important to the citizens 
of lUinois, but also of Missouri, whose settlements 
already extend to the moutli of the Kansas river, 400 
miles from St. Louis ; and it is also important to the 
whole of the Upper Mississippi, as ftir as the Falls 
of St. Anthony, SOO miles above the Missouri. 
Through this channel, also, the goods destined for the 
Indian trade of the far west to the Rocky mountains 
would be conveyed, and the peltries and furs find their 
way to the Atlantic cities. I need only to direct your 



24 



atlentioii to this subject to show you the importance of 
a sliort, expeditions, and direct route between the city 
of New York and the Missouri riv^er, I have staled 
the whole distance conld be performed in less than one 
week, and with ease and comfort to the traveller. And 
1 will show you how it could be done : Suppose the 
traveller leaves the bank of the Mississippi on Monday 
morninor at 4 o'clock, by railroad, for Lafayette — the 
distance (210 miles) at 15 miles per hour, would be run 
in 14 hours time, and he would arrive there at six o'clock 
the same evening. He here takes his supper, and starts 
again at 10 o'clock, p. m., on board a canal-boat, for 
Maumee Bay — distance 215 miles, at the rate of four miles 
per hour, which will require 54 hours, and he will, there- 
fore, arrive at Lake Erie at 4 o'clock on Thursday 
morning. Me leaves here by steamboat at 8 o'clock, 
A. M., for Portland — distance 225 miles, at the rate of 
10 miles an hour, which will bring him to Portland 
on Friday morning at about 6 o'clock. Leaves here 
again at S o'clock, a. m., by the railroad for New York, 
distance 450 miles, which, at the rate of only 13 miles 
an hour, will bring him to the city of New York on 
Saturday evening before 8 o'clock; that is, a journey 
of 1,100 miles will be performed with only one night's 
travel by land, in five days and sixteen hours. 

There is no doubt but the Miami canal, the Erie and 
Wabash canal, and the Chicago and Illinois sloop 
canal, or a railroad, will all Ijc completed by J840 ; 
and then tlie produce of those fertile regions, through 
which those improvements are made, will ilov/ into 
Lake Erie, on their way to the Atlantic cities. And 
if the business on the Erie canal is already so great 



25 



as to call for tlie necessity of doubling your locks east 
of Utica, what must it be in 1840, when the produc- 
tions, not only of the northern part of Ohio, but of 
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and the whole of Michigan, 
will be on their way to the Atlantic ? The fact is, the 
State of New York must, of necessity, extend and 
enlarge her system of internal improvements ; and 
were she to commence immediately to encourage 
and aid in the construction of the New York and Erie 
railroad, and also one from Albany to Buffalo, and 
open a sloop navigation between the North river and 
the lakes, she could not have them completed before 
the increase of business from the western States 
would render them all productive and indispensable. 

There is, also, another view of the subject, which 
our Legislature, I trust, v/ill not lose sight of; and that 
is, the decided advantage Pennsylvania will have over 
New York at present, when she hascompleted hersystem 
of internal improvements, which are directed with a view 
of securing the trade through Lake Erie to Philadel- 
phia. The difference between the distance from 
Cleveland to New York, and from Cleveland to 
Philadelphia, will be seen by the follou'ing table ; 

From Cleveland Miles. 

To Massilon, by canal - - - - - 68 

Pittsburgh, by railroad .... 108, 176 

.Tolmstown, by canal - .... 104,280 

Holidaysburgh, by railroad - - - - 37, 317 

Columbia, by canal ..... 172, 489 

Philadelphia, by railroad - - - - 81, 570 

From Philadelphia to Erie is estimated to be 440 
miles by canals and railroads. From Erie to Cleve- 



26 



land 100, making the distance from Cleveland to 

Philadelphia by Erie 540 miles. 

The distance from Cleveland to New York. Miles. 

To Buffalo, by sl;eaniboat - ' - - - 193 

Albany, by canal ----- 3G3, 556 
New York, by steamboat - - . - 145, 701 

By examining the above tables you will find that 
iMassilon, on the Ohio canal, is 2GS miles, and Cleve- 
land is 130 miles, nearer to Philadelphia than to New 
York. Philadelphia has not only the advantage in the 
distance, but in being able to reach Lake Erie some 
weeks earlier in the spring and later in the season, 
than the state of our canals and harbor of Buffalo will 
admit, on account of the ice. It is this view of the sub- 
ject which constrains me to come to the conclusion 
that the construction of a railroad direct from New 
York to Lake Erie is indispensable, and must be made. 

Should the New York and Erie railroad be finished, 
the distance from New York to the following impor- 
tant places on the above lines of communication, and on 
the western waters, may be seen in the following table : 

By the Miami canal. 

From New York Miles. 

To Portk-.nd ------ 450 

Cleveland ------ 586 

Maumee bay . . . - . G76 

Cincinnati ----.- 911 

Madison, Indiana ----- 1,030 

Louisville, Kentucky - - - - 1,081 

Mouth of the Wabash - . - - 1,338 

By the Erie and Wabash canal, ami Indiana and Illinois railroad. 

Miles. 
To Lafayette ------ 890 

Mouth of Wabash 1,250 



27 

3Iilcs. 

To Nas^hville, Tennessee ... - 1,G00 

Florence, Alabama ----- 1,723 

Mouth of Missouri 1,100 

Jefferson City ..... 1,237 

Franklin -"~ 1,287 

Mouth of Kansas 1,460 

Fort Leavenworth ... - - 1,480 

St. Louis 1,117 

Illinois river - ... - - 1,121 

Des Moines river ----- 1,261 

Fort Armstrong ----- 1,376 

Fever river -----. 1,418 

Galena 1,426 

Wisconsin .--.-- 1,500 

Prairie du Chien .... - 1,502 

St.Peters, orFoil Snelling - - - - 1,820 

Falls of St. Anthony .--..- 1,830 

Bij the Lalces, Chicago and Illinois sloop canal, and Illinois river. 

Miles. 

Detroit 713 

Mackinaw - 938 

Chicago .---.« 1,'^13 

Mouth of Illinois 1,603 

By Green Bay and Fox rivers. 
To Green Bay ------ 1,288 

Mouthof the Wisconsin . - - . 1,618 

Although 1 am much pleased to see and hear that, 
through the enterprise of our citizens, canals and 
railroads are constructing, or contemplated, from Balti- 
more and Washington to the Ohio, and from Charleston 
to the Mississippi, and other sections of the country, and 
which, no doubt, will prove a great benefit to the 
regions through which they pass, yet there are some 
routes which must, from their localities, take the general 
trade and travel of the west. From the inspection of 
the above table of distances, by the Erie and Wabash 
canal, you will perceive it has a great advantage over 



28 



every other route from New Yoik to the Ohio and 
Mississippi. It is 81 miles nearer by it to the mouth 
of the Wabash than by the Miami canal ; 168 miles 
nearer than by the Ohio canal ; and 550 miles nearer 
the mouth of the Illinois and Mississippi river than 
by Chicago ; and nearer even to Prairie du Chien, the 
mouth of the "Wisconsin, than by Green Bay and the 
Northern liakes. The trade, therefore, of the Upper 
Mississippi and the Missouri, and a portion of the 
Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, will be carried on 
principally through this channel, witli tiie Atlantic 
cities. The Tennessee and Alabama cotton, destined 
for the factories in the interior of New York, can be 
conveyed to them in as short a distance as they can 
be carried to New Orleans ; and no one can believe 
that, when this is the case, they will first be carried to 
New Orleans, and then round to New York by sea, and 
then sent into the interior of our State. The same may 
be said of the millions of pounds of lead that is annually 
made on the Upper Mississippi, and in the State of 
Missouri, which can be sent to New Yoric in a less 
distance tlian it can be carried to New Orleans, 

It is impossible, sir, for any one to calculate the 
immense trade which will, in a few years, be carried 
on between the Atlantic cities, especially New York 
and Philadelphia, and the far west. There was an 
increase of population between 1820 and 1830 — 

In Ohio, of - - - - 356,074 

Indiana ... - 104,404 

Illinois ... - 10-3, 304 

Micliigan - - - - 22,301 

675,800 



29 



From the present unexampled emigration to these 
States, there will, no doubt, be an increase of at least 
1,000,000 of souls in them between 1830 and 1840; 
and by 1850 these States and Missouri will number 
upwards of 5,000,000 inhabitants. Think of this, and 
tliat 'mffteeji years it will be sober reality. 

You inquire, also, whether there are any physical 
or financial difficulties in constructing a railroad from 
the Mississippi, opposite the mouth of (he Missouri, to 
connect with the New York and Erie railroad ? As 
far as my knowledge of the country and information 
extends, there are no physical difficulties in the way; 
and ] am of opinion that a railroad can be made from 
Jamestown, at the outlet of Cliatauque lake, to the 
Missouri, without the necessity of any stationary 
power, and not to exceed 650 miles in length. The 
most direct rente would be to keep on the hei2:ht of 
land which divides the waters which run into the 
lake and Maumee and Wabash rivers, from those 
which run into the Ohio and White rivers. By this 
route, with a very small deviation, you might go by 
Indianapolis or Lafayette, and so direct to the mouth 
of the Missouri. The whole expense of this road 
would probably not exceed $10,000,000. I suppose 
such a great national work, of such obvious utility, 
and such immense advantage to the whole country, 
could meet with no financial difficulties in its con- 
struction. The only difficulty 1 can conjecture, is 
entirely of a different nature ; and that is: Will the 
States of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois 
grant a charter to a private company for the purpose? 
This is a question I am not able to determine j but 



30 



sure I am, it would be better for the public good if 
eucouragement could be gi\'en to the new States to 
make this road on tlie same principles that they liave 
undertaken to make the Miami, Erie, and Wabash and 
Chicago and Illinois canals, with a condition annexed, 
that the United States mails, stores for the army, &c., 
shall always be conveyed on them on certain specific 
terms* 

The State of Indiana has granted charters for rail- 
roads from Lawrenceburgh and Madison to Indian- 
apolis, and from that to Lafayette, and probably 
another will be granted from Lafayette to Michigan 
City, on Lake Michigan. And there probably will 
soon be a railroad from Louisville through Nashville, 
Tennessee ; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to New Orleans ; 
and from New Orleans to Augusta, and thence con- 
tinued through North Carolina and Virginia to Wash- 
ino-ton City. And from this place there can be no 
doubt we shall soon have a railroad to New York, and 
probably lo Boston. The railroad from Charleston, 
South Carolina, to Memphis, on the Mississippi, is 
now in progress, and will certainly be completed, for it 
is one of the most important improvements that can be 
made between the Atlantic cities and the Mississippi 
river, and indispensable for the interests of tlie southern 
States. 

Every improvement by canals and railroads, which 
has a tendency to facilitate the intercourse between 
the cast and the west, the north and the south, of our 
republic, is of the utmost importance, both in a com- 
mercial and political point of view ; for tliat moment 
you bring together, within a few days' journey, the 



31 



different and remote sections of our country, by inter- 
nal improvements through every State in the Union, 
their commercial interests and relations will be so 
developed and interwoven and their mutual depen- 
dence upon each other so seen and felt, as to bind and 
cement them together by the strongest tie, that of self- 
interest. For whatever politicians may say with 
regard to different sectional interests, the practical 
farmers of the south and west, and manufacturers and 
merchants of the north and east, will see and feel that 
their true interests are, in reality, one and the same; 
and that any interruption of free and unrestricted 
intercourse with each other will equally operate to the 
injury of them individually, as well as to that of the 
whole body pohtic. This, I trust, will always lead 
the different States of this Union to such compromise 
and concessions, with regard to what they may con- 
ceive to be for their individual advantage, as will 
promote the best interest of the whole nation. And 
it is on this account especially that 1 take a deep 
interest in the internal improvements of our country. 
With great respect. 

Your obedient servant, 

J. F. SCHERMERHORN. 
S. B. RuGGLES, Esq., 

New York, 



32 



CHAPTER IV. 

Errors of emigrants. A heallhy climate no less desirable than a fer- 
tile soil. Situations combining these two requisites. Latitude of 
the Wabash valley. Its numerous prairies one great cause of ius 
advancement. Comparative impor:ance of timber land and prai- 
rie. General treatment of stock and management of a stock farm. 
Pvearing and exporting hogs, a source of great profit to the West. 
Stock cattle. Cultivation of the sugar beet. Profits of a single 
year .sufiiciint to repay the cost and ordinary expenditure of a prai- 
rie farm. 

The choice of a genial and sahibrious cHmate, no less 
than a productive soil, are points of vast importance to 
the enterprising emigrant. And yet how often is the 
iormer disregarded, and the latter sought for with 
undue desire, in his anticipated change of residence. 
Allured, it may be, by the first appearance of some fertile 
region, he selects it as a home, and settles down to 
dream of golden harvests and approaching wealth. 
But how soon, alas, the bright delusion disappears, and 
he awakes to feel the sad conviction that no charm of 
situation, or increase of gain, can recompense for hours 
of suffering and enfeebled health ! It is to errors of 
this nature that we must attribute many of those early 
disappointments which o'ercloud the prospects of the 
western settler, embitter a continuance in his new 
abode, or drive him back, despairing, to his native land. 

And these, too, are errors which reflection might 
avoid. If, indeed, there Is a period which demands 
the exercise of sober reason and discrimination, tiiat 
surely must be one when the glad adventurer, ani- 
mated with high hopes and brilliant expectation, is 
about to seek another and far distant home. This is 
the hour on whose decisions are suspended days, nay 
years, of comfort or of wretchedness. Here, then, let 
him pause , and look well to his footsteps. Let his 



33 



determination be adopted in full view of probable re- 
sults, and lollowed with a zeal deserving of its object. 
Let him haste not on each mountain wave, in quest of 
some expected, and it may be dangerous, harbor. Let 
him start out rather with his chart and compass, con- 
scious of the dangers that attend his waj''. In avoiding 
Scylla, may he steer not on Charybdis, but pursue 
his course in safety to the haven of his wishes. 

Guided, then, by the experience of others, and ac- 
quainted with the geographical position of the various 
regions presented to his choice, the emigrant selects 
his future home. To no one can the rule apply with 
greater force, " avoid all extremes." Fertility of soil 
and a healthy climate are the objects of his search, 
but he must remember that neither should be sought 
for to the exclusion of the other. Avoiding equally 
the "far north," favorable, perhaps, to health, but afford- 
ing scant subsistence, and the tempting countries of low, 
southern latitudes, with their scorching sun and pes- 
tilential exhalations, he will choose between these two 
extremes, a region which unites the charm of both. 

That portion of our country which combines the 
greatest fertility of soil, with a salubrious climate, 
must undoubtedly be placed between the 43d and 3Sth 
degree of latitude, and comprises, west of the Alleghany 
mountains, the Slates of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and a 
large part of Missouri, together with the southern part 
of Michigan and the northern region of Kentucky. 
Occupying a central position between these latitudes, 
will be found the most productive counties of Indiana 
and Illinois, together with the valley of the Wabash. 
The same parallels of latitude, on different sides of the 
3 



34 



Alleghany mountains, will give nearly the same climate, 
with an exception in favor of the mildness of the 
western situation. Thus the climate of Philadelphia, 
as agreeable, perhaps, as any in the eastern States, is 
found, v;ith little variation, to exist in Lafayette, 

Of the general health of this rich valley there can 
be but one opinion, and that greatly in its favor. Its 
peculiar diseases, if any, together with the mode of their 
prevention or removal, will be found within the pages 
of another chapter. 

One great cause of the immediate growth of the 
Wabash valley is the number of prairies, prepared, as 
as it were, by nature for the plough. Thousands of 
acres can be found, even now, as well fitted for produ- 
cing crops as the most highly manured and rolled lands 
of the old settlements. Such is its fertility that over 
100 bushels of corn, 40 bushels of wheat, and 70 bushels 
of oats are easily raised upon a single acre. Some 
individuals have been cultivating upwards of 1,000 
acres in grain, the whole of which is readily disposed 
of at the highest prices. Other tracts of similar extent 
are sowed in grass, and the hay sold at an immense 
profit in the southern markets. 

The exportation of pork, which is followed to a 
great extent, is another source of income to the en- 
terprising merchants of the Wabash valley. 

The question of the comparative value of timber- 
lands and prairie is decided, by important facts, in 
favor of the latter. The cost of a single acre of each 
will be the same, but the comparative expense of cul- 
tivation will be found as 1 to 3 in favor of the prairies. 
From $3 to J|^9 per acre, including the first cost, is an 



33 



ample allowance for the complete arrangement and cul- 
tivation of a prairie farm, while the sum of twelve 
dollars per acre is the lowest price for simply clearing 
timber-land, which is left for many years encumbered 
with unsightly stumps and roots. The soil of the prai- 
ries, too, is generally more productive than that of timber 
land. Portions of prairie, far remote from timber, can 
be easily supplied, by sowing the seed of the black 
walnut or locust. Four or five years are sufficient to 
produce a growth of timber suitable for fuel and otiier 
purposes. Sod fences, with a hedge of locust or the 
hawthorn, are found to be better and far neater than the 
ordinary ones, heretofore in use, while the recent im- 
provements in ditching machines render their construc- 
tion extremely cheap and easy. Many of these hedges 
are already found upon the prairies, and they will soon 
constitute the outer and division fences of extensive 
prairie farms. The surface of the prairies, from its 
smoothness, is admirably adapted for the successful 
operation of numerous labor saving machines of recent 
origin. By the use of the ditching machine, before 
mentioned, it is estimated that fences maybe made upon 
the prairies at the astonishingly low price o{ fifteen cents 
per acre, while the ditch answers a most valuable pur- 
pose in draining moist lands. A more extended notice 
of this machine, and the results it must accomplish, 
will be given hereafter. 

Another circumstance which renders a supply of 
timber less necessary for the prairies, exists in the ii^- 
exhaustible coal formations, at no great distance from 
them. Such, at least, is the situation of the prairies 
contiguous to Lafayette, some of which are crossed for 



36 



miles by the railroad from Lafa^^ette to Danville, where 
coal of the best quality is found in great abundance. 

Previous to a more detailed account of the actual 
cost of cultivation, yield of different crops, <fcc., wo 
furnish our readers with a letter from the honorable O. 
H. Smith, Senator in Congress from the State of Indiana, 
giving an account of his success in farming operations. 
It was written in answer to inquiries from the honor- 
able H. L. Ellsworth, Commissioner of Patents, whose 
laudable and unwearied exertions in the cause of scien- 
tific agriculture are well known throughout the Union. 
Independent of the replies to many questions of impor- 
tance, this letter will be found to contain much general 
information. 

Washington city, 

April 23, 183S. 
Sir : Your letter of this day has been received. I 
trust I need not say to you, that 1 am fully apprized of 
your- very laudable exertions to aid the agricultural in- 
terest of the nation, and especially that of the State of 
Indiana, for which you have my sincere thanks. Re- 
gretting that I am not so intimately acquainted with the 
entire subject as to enable me to furnish you with all 
the information desired, I will briefly give you such 
views applicable to Indiana, as your interrogatories seem 
to suggest. 

1. " Can non-residents improve their lands to ad- 
vantage ?" 

2. " What terms would be fair and satisfactory?" 
These questions depend so much upon the quality of 

land, and the manner and kind of the improvement de- 
sired, that it is very difficult to give a satisfactory answer 



37 



to them. I have no doubt but that non-residents can 
improve their lands to advantage, and it is very desirable 
to the State that they should do so. By this, I mean or- 
dinary and valuable improvements, such as fencing, 
seeding with grass, breaking up prairie lands, and dead- 
ening and fencing woodlands, and clearing them by 
degrees. By making these and like improvements, the 
value of the lands would at once be enhanced in value, 
to double the first cost of the improvement made, besides, 
in a very short time, paying for all such improvements 
by the produce and pasture afforded from them. Such 
in:iprovements can be made advantageously, either by 
leasing the land for a term of years, or by contract 
by the acre. 

3. '• Wliat stock is most profitable — cattle, liogs, or 
horses ?" 

The answer to this interrogatory must also depend 
upon the kind of land, the state of its improvement at 
the time the stock is put upon it, and the abihty of the 
proprietor to await returns of funds invested in stock. 

If the lands are suitable for grazing, cattle would be 
the most valuable stock, commencing with young cattle, 
and disposing of them at four years old. The average 
improvement on this kind of stock, with proper attention, 
will be about fifty per cent, per annum. If the lands 
are good corn lands, hogs are the preferable stock, 
owing to the rapidity of their growth, and the quick 
return of the money invested, as a hog of the best stock 
comes to maturity, or nearly so, at two years old, while 
other stock must be kept to a much greater age before it 
can be advantageously disposed of. 



3S 



As (0 horses, it may be remarked, tliat the raising of 
this stock can only be profitably carried on witli great 
attention and mncli personal care, while the amount in- 
vested, and the length of time necessary to bring the 
stock to njaturity, seem to forbid the idea that this in- 
vestment can be advantageously pursued by non-resi- 
dents, or even residents, on a large scale. Indeed, it 
may be remarked that horses can only become a profit- 
able stock, when distributed in small numbers amongst 
the farmers of the country, who can break and train 
them, upon which much of their value depends. 

4. " What has been your general treatment of stock, 
and, particularly, how have you fattened your swine?"' 

I have been for some years past engaged in farming 
and grazing- to some considerable extent, though not so 
extensively as have many others in the section of In- 
diana in which I reside, but, owing to my public duties, 
I have not been able to devote so much of my time to 
the business as would have been desirable, to produce 
the most favorable result. I have confined my grazing 
to young cattle, and to prairie lands in a state of nature, 
except being fenced. The result has been about as I have 
stated in answer to a former interrogatory in relation to 
the advance on this kind of stock. 1 would here re- 
mark, that the northern part of Indiana is pecuharly 
adapted to grazing ; producing herd, timothy, and blue 
grass, of a rapid and luxuriant growth. The marshes, 
or, as they are commonly called, the wet prairies, pro- 
duce a wild grass, of coarse texture, from three to six 
feet high. Cattle live very well on this grass through 
the summer, and winter tolerably well upon the hay 
made from it ; but it is very desirable to persons who 



39 



have that kind of land, and who may design grazing it, 
to get the tame grasses, (herd, timothy, or blue grass,) 
or all of these, set as soon as possible. The herd is most 
suitable for wet lands ; timothy for dry open lands, and 
blue grass, or orchard grass, for open wood lands. You 
cannot rely upon the wild grass ; and as it is very easy 
to set these lands with tame grass at a small expense, 
thai improvement should not be neglected, where the 
lands are intended to be used for grazing purposes. 

The next branch of your inquiry, in relation to the 
raisinof and feeding; of hoo;s or swine, has received more 
of my personal attention than that of grazing cattle or 
of raising horses. Living in the centre of the White 
Water valley, where the great and almost the exclusive 
produce for exportation has been pork, my attention has 
necessarily been more directed to that subject than the 
others named. 

The lands, that we call first rate corn-lands, are gene- 
rally alluvial bottom lands, or walnut or burr oak table- 
lands. These lands, properly cultivated, produce about 
the average of sixty-five bushels of corn to the acre; some 
of the very best, produce eighty bushels to the acre, and 
are cultivated for successive years in corn. A statement 
of my own operations, for a few years past, will partially 
illustrate the process adopted in that part of Indiana in 
which I reside, in the pork business. I hax^c had in 
cultivation in corn, for severar years past, 160 acres of 
river bottom lands. The most of these lands have been in 
cultivation in corn about fifteen years, without intermis- 
sion and without manure. The average crop has been, 
since I have tilled them, about 05 bushels of corn to 
the acre. I plant my corn, generally, about the first of 



40 



May ; it is laid by about the middle of July, and by 
the middle of September it is sufficiently hard to com- 
mence the feedings of my hogs. At this time, I pur- 
chase of those who raifee them, the slock required to 
eat off my corn : say about three and half hoos to 
the acre, which is about the proper number to eat an 
acre of corn in tinrteen weeks, the usual time allowed 
to make our pork from ordinary stock hogs. My 
course of feeding is this : My lields contain from 20 to 
30 acres each, all well watered. At the proper season, 
1 turn my hogs into a field, and after it is eaten off 
clean, I pass them into another, and so on, until I have 
fed off my crop, when my hogs are ready for market. 
The profits of the operation depend much upon the 
price and quality of the stock, and the price pork may 
bear in the market. But, for several years past, it has 
been an excellent agricultural business. When I first 
commenced feeding this kind of stock, a k\v years ago, 
I very naturally supposed that, by turning them into 
the field of ungathered corn, great waste would be the 
inevitable consequence, and I had my corn pulled and 
fed to them in a dry lot. But I soon became satisfied, 
by inspecting the operations of my neighbors, who had 
been for years in the business, that my labor and 
expense of feeding in this manner was entirely thrown 
away, and I abandoned it. Hogs gather corn in tbe 
field with little or no waste, provided the fields or lots 
in which they are fed are proportioned in size to the 
number of hogs fed upon them, which should be in 
the proportion of 100 hogs to five or six acres of corn. 
The hogs should be regularly salted while feeding, and 
runninof water sliould be accessible at all times to them. 



41 



By feeding in this way, I find that my hogs improve more 
rapidly, and my lands increase in value yearly, although 
I have never put a shovel-full of manure upon them. 
This may be accounted for by the fact that the stalks, 
husks, &c., are brought down to rot upon the lands 
through the winter, to be ploughed under in the spring ; 
and so the process goes on year after year, the land 
receiving again the most of all that is raised upon it. 
Before I leave the subject of feeding swine, 1 would 
suggest that very much of the success depends upon 
the breed of the animal^ as well as tlte ?jianner of his 
feeding- lohen young. There is one simple fact tliat 
should never be lost siglit of by the feeder or raiser of 
this stock, and that is : that if you once init a hog 
upon high feed, you shoidd never diminish it, or the 
animal will scarcely ever regain his former healthful 
and improving condition ; or, in other words, when 
you commence the fattening process, you should con- 
tinue it till the animal is killed. Whoever may test 
the correctness of this position, will find it to be fully 
sustained. 

Being much from home, and not having a dispos- 
able force to tend or farm my land. I have for years 
paid .^3^ per acre for tending it, the persons farming 
the corn being at all the expenses. This is about a 
fair compensation for such services. 

1 have thus briefly answered the substance of the 
questions suggested in your letter, and have only to 
regret that my attention has not heretofore been more 
specially directed to some of the subjects you suggest 
for my consideration ; as, in that event, it would have 



42 



been in my power to have given a mncli more 
satisflictory response to your letter. 

Respectfully^ 

O. H. SMITH. 
H. L. Ellsworth, Esq. 

The great profits of stock-farming will be readily per- 
ceived. Corn, as will appear from Mr. Smith's experience, 
can be raised and delivered on the stalk, at Jive cents 
per bushel; since his actual cost for 6.5 bushels, (an aver- 
age crop per acre,) for several years, was but three dol- 
lars and fifty cents. Hogs fed thus in field, require no 
additional expenditures, except the sum required for 
salting. Such has been the experience of other indi- 
viduals, some of whom have fattened for the market, 
3'early, upwards of 1,000 hogs. The great demand for 
pork, existing in the southern markets, together with the 
immense profits that attend its sale, are too well known 
to need a further mention. The pork business, in its 
various branches, has furnished the commencement and 
completion of many of those splendid fortunes, which 
are found in the large cities of the western world. 

Others have devoted their attention to rearing fine 
stock cattle, and with great success. Stock of this des- 
cription can be kept fat on the prairie pastures during 
summer, and will live well on blue grass fields tln-ough- 
out the winter. It is better, however, to provide fodder, 
and allow them shelter. Selections of cattle and other 
stock, as breeds, can be made to great advantage from 
the rare collections to be found in portions of Ohio and 
Kentucky. The profit on 500 heifers, at $5, (the average 
cost,) is readily perceived. Working oxen, of large size, 
which can be easily procured in the vicinity of Lafay- 



43 



ctte at $50, will bring in Michigan from $100 to $125 
per yoke. ; aiicllarge numbers have, during the past year, 
been driven thither from the valley of the Wabash. 
The cost of driving oxen to an eastern market will not 
exceed ,^5 per head, or they may be sent in flat-boats to 
the southern States, at an expense but trifling, when 
compared with the returns. 

Beet sugar manufacture, offers another advantageous 
mode for the investment of capital. From 18 to 20 
tons of sugar beets are calculated as the product of an 
acre. This, allowing S per cent, of sugar, gives 3,200 
pounds, which, estimated at 10 cents per pound, will 
give $320 to the acre. The residue of beets, after an 
extraction of the saccarine matter, is much used in Eng- 
land for the manufacture of fine paper. The cultivation 
of the beet, with reference to sugar, is an employment 
well adapted, on a small scale, to private flimilies. Much 
of the labor requisite, can be performed in-doors, and 
will furnish an agreeable occupation for long winter 
evenings. Would it not literally tend to " sweeten fife," 
to raise a few barrels of choice su":ar from a " o-arden 
patch ?" This is done with much success in France, 
where labor is high, and the rent of land at eight, ten, and 
twelve dollars to the acre. 

These are a few of the agricultural operations w^hich 
are sources of immediate income to the western settler, 
and which are calculated to induce an extensive cultiva- 
tion of his lands. It may be assumed, as the result of 
long experience, that the profits of the first year will 
repay the whole costs and ordinary expenditures upon 
a flirm of from 320 to 1,000 acres, besides leaving the 
land cultivated, as well as that adjacent, increased several 
hundred per cent, in hs capabilities and value. 



44 



CHAPTER T. 

Vast agricultural importance of the Wabash and Maumeo valley?. 
Baden corn, Italian wheat, &c. Costofimprovina; 640 acres. Cost 
of improving 320 acres. Ditching machines. Hedge fences. Plan 
of a neat and comfortable " prairie cottage," for the settler. Raj- 
mond's shingle-cutting machine. Tenoning and mortising ma- 
chines. Estimate of the cost of cultivation and products of 3-20 
acres in flax. Estimate of the cost of cultivation and products of 
G40 acres in wheat. Estimate of the cost of cultivation and products 
of 640 acres in grass. 

The vast agricultural importance, not only of the 
Wabash but the Maumee valley, with their facilities of 
e;:portation by the great canal, v/ill appear from an es- 
timate of the products they could anually render. Their 
whole distance may extend 500 miles. A cultivation 
on both sides of their rivers, of 20 miles in breadth, 
would give upwards of 336,000,000 bushels of wdieat, 
allowing only 20 bushels to the acre, and 672,000,000 
bushels of corn, at 40 bushels to the acre, and this, too, 
upon a calculation which sinks about one-half the ordi- 
nary product of these articles. How much would the 
value of this product be increased by the hydraulic 
powers derived from the canal alone, in the further pre- 
paration of the same for market ! 

What exports could be made, from only 20 miles 
square, around the town of Lafayette ! The cultivation 
of this quantity of land, (256,000 acres,) in wheat, would 
give 6,400,000 bushels, allowing 25 bushels to the acre : 
equal to 1,300,000 barrels of flour, which ought to be 
transported, via New Orleans, to the city of New York, 
at from $1 25 to.'^l 50 for each barrel. 

If cultivated in flax, an article admirably suited to 
the soil, it would give, allowing only 12 bushels to 



45 



the acre, 3,072,000 bushels, worth at least $[ per bush- 
el, is - - - - $3,072,000 
Add 256,000 tons of stem, which, at $12 

per ton, is - - - - 3,072,000 



Amounting to $6,144,000 



This seed manufactured into oil, allowing 7 quarts 
per bushel, would yield 5,376,000 gallons. The stem 
would yield about 146,286,000 pounds of dressed flax, 
which, at 8 cts. per pound, would amount to $1 1,702,880. 

Again, if these 256,000 acres were sowed in grass, 
they would yield, at the rate of two tons to the acre, 
512,000 tons, which, at $20 per ton, (the lowest price 
at New Orleans for many years,) would amount to 
$10,240,000. 

These estimates are startling, it is true, and yet they 
are but the extensions of actual results upon a smaller 
scale. Indeed, in almost every instance, the yield and 
price of the article as given falls short of the reality. 

How much can be done for the improvement ol the 
Wabash valley, by the introduction of the better kinds of 
grain and grasses. In the calculations made in the letter 
from the Hon. O. H. Smith, 65 bushels of corn are al- 
lowed as a good growth per acre, and the still smaller 
amount of 40 bushels forms the basis of the calculation 
given at the commencement of this chapter. But the ' 
writer recollects at least one instance, where the intro- 
duction of '= the Baden corn" (a species distinguished 
for its great yield, and for a more particular description 
of which our readers are referred to the appendix) was 
followed by the astonishing return of 110 bushels to the 
acre, and an average of four ears to the stalk, as the 



46 



first crop from the sod. A detail of the experiments of 
Mr. Baden, by wliom tliis corn was brought to its pre- 
sent state of perfection, is worthy of great attention. It 
exhibits how much can be accoraphshed for the improve- 
ment of the most ordinary grain, by unceasing .perse- 
verance for a course of years. 

By a letter from the honorable John R. Porter, of 
Eugene, Yermillion county, to the honorable H. L. Ells- 
worth, of Washington city, further information will be 
given of this celebrated corn, together with many valua- 
ble hints on farming operations. The letter is dated 

June 22, 1838. The extracts are as follows : 

****** 

'• We have had a remarkable and productive season. 
Every thing seems to have conspired to reward the 
efforts of the husbandman. The earth literally labored 
to perfect her fruits. Could we always have such sea- 
sons, or by any process acclimate the 'Baden corn,' 
your introduction of it, will add more to the State than 
one-half her works of internal improvement, so splen- 
didly projected. An increase, with the same labor, of 
15 bushels to the acre, would be immense, and 1 am 
confident mine %i;as more tlian fifty bushels ! It was 
planted on the 13th of May, with only ordinary prepa- 
ration, and at the first, (when most needed,) received 
less than ordinary care, but was Haid hy^ as we term 
it. Still it produced 120 bushels to an acre, and this on 
' Wabash poor land,' which had supported twelve 
successive exhausting crops without manure, and with 
nothing but a superabundance oi fertilizing weeds for 
the next crop. I intend an experiment, by selecting my 
seed from the foot of the ear, and experience shows 



47 

that it will be two weeks earlier in ripening. Some- 
thing must be done to adapt this fine corn to our seasons. 

" The Italian wheat, I put in also late, and it suc- 
ceeded admirably, and in its growth showed perfect 
maturity, but when threshed exhibited a shrunken grain. 
I charged this to lateness in sowing ; for common spring 
wheat, sowed early, formed a perfect kernel. Our mil- 
lers complain of the flintiness and difficulty of flouring, 
which attends the Italian wheat ; but they must im- 
prove with our improvements. 

"I have a plan in view, and I wish to submit it to you 
for maturity and execution: and that is, to introduce the 
mowing and grain cutting machine into this State. 
Would it not be profitable for the proprietor to try the 
experiment upon the Wabash? Let two or more be 
sent, one for Lafayette, another for this place, with a 
competent and skilful manager, to cut grass and grain 
by the acre. I will, of my own land, promise 300 
acres. You can furnish as much more, and mjr neigh- 
bors will offer full 1,000 acres, if they have confidence 
in the machine. I know of no way of making so much 
money. Will you present the subject to the considera- 
tion of the proprietor, and confer with your son at 
Lafayette upon its feasibility ? 

" But I will introduce to you my multiplied wants. 
If you send to your son any grains, I wish half a 
bushel of ' Siberian wheat,' and a like amount of 
< Dutton corn.' These I wish for the purpose of experi- 
ment. Baden corn, I know I can perfect in two years, 
and with a yield of never less than 100 bushels to the 
acre. I also wish half a bushel of the earliest and best 
spring barley, double rowed, if it can be procured. 



48 



I find barley a most profitable crop. Our brewers are 
much in earnest, and I am satisfied you will find it for 
your interest to send some of the seed referred to. I 
also wish a few of the finer o-rass seeds. Our grand 
prairie (contiguous to Lafayette) is naturally designed 
for such productions. If I lived on it, never would 1 
rest until they were growing around me. 
" Ever yours, 

"JOHN R. PORTER. 

" Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, 

" Washington Ciii/, D. C." 

Such are the opinions of Judge Porter, one of the 
most distinguished friends of agriculture; and, we may 
add, one of the most sound, scientific, and successful 
farmers that the State contains. They are the offspring 
of no wild and visionary speculation, but the results 
of much experience and cool reflection. They are 
opinions, too, that are sustained by the testimony of 
many others, who, following with equal zeal the same 
grand objects, have arrived at similar conclusions. It 
is, indeed, fortunate for the young and fertile State of 
Indiana, that she has within her borders those whose 
extended views are thus directed to her most important 
interests, and whose means allow a lull indulgence 
in their favorite pursuits. 

And much more remains demanding effort on the 
part of the scientific agriculturist, but they will be 
efforts meeting with a vast reward. AVho can calcu- 
late the operation of a perfect system of cultivation 
on the fertile timber lands and prairies of the Wabash 
valley ; the increased returns they might be made to 
render, and the constantly accumulating value of land 



49 



itself? Who could deny to choice and cultivated por- 
tions of the west, a price equal to that claimed for 
the lou:^ tilled and less productive farms of the eastern 
States ? 

It will, douhtless, be expected by our readers, that 
we should furnish a concise detail of the whole 
expense required for the preparation of a farm for 
actual cultivation. This we propose to do. Our 
calculations will be made with reference to the prairies, 
but will answer equally for timber land, by allowing 
from $10 to $12 more per acre, the sum requisite to clear 
the latter. Of the accuracy of the following estimates 
there can be no doubt, as their correctness is a subject 
of almost every day's experience. They were prepared 
by a late and lamented brother of the writer, who had 
just finished a prairie farm containing 800 acres, and 
are as follows : " The expense of breaking up the sod 
is $2 25 per acre. This is a Jl-ved frice^ and certain 
calculations may be made upon it wherever the land 
may be located. But a difference will exist in the 
cost of fencing, according to the distance the rails 
are carted. For the farm that I have just fenced, the 
rails were hauled four miles. This distance loill 
form the basis of my calcidations. It is apparent that 
the cost of fencing will depend materially on the size 
and form of the area to be enclosed. An area of 320 
acres will cost much more than half the amount required 
to fence 640 acres. The four sides of a half section 
are three miles ; the two longest sides being one mile 
each, and the two shortest a half a mile each. The 
four sides of a whole section (640 acres) are four 
4 



50 



miles, requiring only one-quarter onore fence for double 
the quantity of land. 

Twenty rails are allowed to a rod ; this makes a 
" Virginia" or " worm fence," eight rails high. The 
eighth rail, called a rider, is elevated twelve or 
eiofhteen inches from the seventh rail, and rests on 
crotches eight feet long, crossing at each corner of 
the " worm." Rails of ordinary size, laid in this 
manner, make a durable and light fence, over and 
through which no cattle or stock can pass. 
Estimate for improving C40 acres. 

Four miles, or 1,280 rods, at 20 rails lo the rod, gives 
25,600 rails. Adding, for enclosures, cribs, &c., 
1,400 rails, total of rails is 27,000, which, at $3 50 
per hundred, is . - . . 

For one log-house, well, and laying up fence 

For breaking up 600 acres, allowing the remaining 40 
for bad spots, enclosures, &c., at S2 25 per acre 

Allow for contingencies - - - - 

Amount 

Making not quite S'4 per acre cost, including buildings, &c. 
Estimate for 320 acres. 

Three miles, or 900 rods, at 20 rails per rod, gives 
19,200 rails. Adding, for enclosures, cribs, &c., 
1,300, total of rails is 21,500, at .f3 50 per hundred, 
is ------- 

For well, laying up fence, and one house 

For breaking up 300 acres, (allowing the remaining 20 
for enclosures, &c.,) at ^2 25 per acre 

Add for contingencies - - . . . 

Amount - . . . . 

Making near $5 per acre. 



$945 00 


200 00 


1,350 00 


30 00 


$2,525 00 



S752 


50 


175 


00 


G75 


00 


25 


00 


81,627 


50 



51 



The above calculations may vary a few cents per 
acre, owing to slight flactuations in the price of laborers. 
One hundred acres will cost about ^6 50 per acre, 
with the same buildings, &c., and eighty acres will cost 
about $8 30 per acre — the expense per acre increasing 
as the number of acres is diminished. It is found, in 
general, that the first two crops will pay for the land at 
Government prices, fence the same and plough it, and 
on 320 acres build a house worth ,^200. The land 
will sell readily, if improved, at $10 per acre." 

To the estimates given above should be added the 
original cost of the land per acre ; when the whole 
amount will be as follows : 

First Estimate. 

For the improvements on 640 acres, as described - S'3,525 00 
Cost of land, at $1 25 per acre - - - . 800 03 

Amoimt - - - . - - S3, 325 00 

Second Estimate. 

For the improvements on 320 acres - - . $1^(^21 bQ 

Cost of land, at $1 25 per acre - - - . 400 00 



J, 027 50 



This will be found as accurate an account as can 
be given of improvements, upon the ordinary modes 
adopted in the western country. The introduction 
of ditching macliines, and the substitution of hedge 
fences, for those now in use, will greatly lessen one 
large item of expense. By the use of these machines, 
it is supposed hedge fences may be made at the 
astonishingly low price oi fifteen cents 'per acre ! Assu- 
ming, however, 25 cents as the price per acre, we shall 



52 



reduce $945 00, (the sum allowed for rails by the first 
estimate,) to $160, and save from the whole amount 
the sum of $785! This, too, by the introduction 
and use of a machine which gives, in addition to the 
fence, a permanent and valuable drain for moist lands. 
The appearance of a well cultivated prairie farm, sur- 
rounded and intersected by these fences, whose tops are 
covered with a luxuriant growth of the wild locust, 
hawthorn, or Osage orange, can be easily im- 
agined. The necessity of procuring timber, except 
for fuel, is removed, and much labor and expense 
in hauling is avoided. 

The poor and uncomfortable appearance of many 
of the houses so often met with on the most productive 
farms throughout the western country, is a subject 
of extreme regret. The practice of erecting rude log 
cabins, (derived at first from a scarcity of the material, 
suitable for better dwellings.) has been nmch too long 
continued. Tenements of this description prove often 
detrimental to the health and comfort of their inmates, 
while their value as improvements is too small to 
mention. 

At considerable expense of time and labor, we have 
prepared a plan (which accompanies this volume) of a 
house or " Prairie cottage" for the western settler. The 
utmost economy has been studied in this plan, and the 
dwcUino- will be found simple in structure, convenient, 
and, considering its durability, extremely cheap. 

An upper division of the plan, to which reference is 
had, represents a house of the description we propose, 
situated in a convenient portion of a "lot" or tract of SO 
acres. A sod fence encloses the area. 



^ 



r^:: 



■ f • 



ill J ID, 

lii j I li . 

. i _J^ 



-#./^.^.\*-*^-^^1 i 1151 

lA. A r^i ^ ' J 



'^rs;. 






■:^.. 



f ? - '"^-"-:-^^^^::^^:^^-V-^r^=J= r-Tzli^ -^:i:,fczz,^ 








^ Xs JL 1^ _ 


_ ij 


ii 1 


j_ i_ 




r^p 


■ ! 


i^i^ 


^- 


J 1 


;^ 








, 






1 'ii 

^11^ i. 


,1^17, 






1 1. 1 


1 1 1 II 


i; i 



1 . • 



■^^ ^f ^ 



r ~i 



•f > - 



J 



• lliir'h'" 



: ; i 

'HI 



1 1 







!;//•</'./ ),.// 



;li „„,l l>"'' f" 



53 



A s3Cond division of the plan, exhibits a naked 
frame of one side of the house, with places for the joists 
and rafters. 

A third division, contains a plan of the lower 
story, with two lire-places, situation of oven, &c., to- 
gether with a detail showing" the plate notched into the 
studs to receive the joists. A representation of the 
bank or sod fence, with its angle of inclination, is also 
presented. 

Upon the plan proposed, no large timbers are reqnired. 
The studs are the only uprights, and are allowed to be 
twelve feet long. The lower story, which embraces an 
area of 34 by 16 feet, is divided into two rooms, each 
containing 15 feet square. This story is eight feet high, 
at which elevation a piece of scantling is framed into 
the studs, for the joists of the second floor to rest upon. 
The second story is also divided into two rooms, the 
upper walls of which are formed by the inclination of 
the roof from the ridge to the top of the uprights. The 
rafters extend six feet beyond the plate, and rest upon 
plain cedar, or other posts of suitable material, forming 
in this manner a convenient porch. Boards unplaned are 
nailed to the studs in the same manner that clapboards 
are attached. The floors are made of oak plank, and 
left to wear smooth, as is common in the country. The 
windows are of small glass, (8 by 10 or 7 by 9 inches,) 
so that they may be easily repaired in case of accident. 
The doors are "batton doors," hung with butts or hinges. 
The two lower rooms may be plastered or ceiled up. 
If the latter method is adopted, the boards should be 
planed, and the interstices filled with a mixture of straw 
and clay, to exclude both the heat of summer, and the 
cold of winter. 



54 



Six batton doors are allowed throughout the house, 
and are thirty inches wide, except that furnishing 
the main entrance to the dwelling, vdiich should be 
three feet in width. 

The following calculation, exhibits the quantity of 
lumber that will be required for each house : 

Estimate of lumber. 

reel. 

Corner pieces, (7 X 4 inches) - 112 

Studs, (3x4 inches) - 1,030 

Six plates, (6x4 inches) - 360 

Shingling laths, (3x1 inches) - 210 

Joist, (10x3 inches) - 1,920 

Floorboards - - - - 900 

Weather boarding - - - 1,300 

Number of feet - - 5,SS2 Superficial measure. 



Amount of plastering - - - 313 Square yards. 
Shingles fijr roof ... 6,720 
Bricks 2,500 

The whole cost of a house, containing the above 
materials^ will not exceed .$200. 

How much more commodious, and yet not more 
expensive, is a house of this description, than the 
neatest hewn log tenement, and how far superior 
to the ordinary cabin. 

In addition to other improvements, a well should 
be dug, v/hich can generally be accomplished by an 
excavation of from fifteen to twenty feet. Where stones 
for walling up the well cannot be found, clay suitable 
for bricks is easily procured. 

Some may prefer to cover the whole exterior (both 
sides and roof) v.nth shingles. In this case about 



55 



9,000 shingles more would be required, than the 
number given in the estimate of lumber. And here 
we cannot omit to mention a late valuable invention, 
by Joseph S. Raymond, of Lodi, New York, for cutting 
shingles with revolving knives. The machinery is 
simple, — (cost about 8100.-) and cuts from twenty to 
tic cnty -five thousand sliingles daily. This may appear 
incredible, but astonishment will be lessened when 
the reader is informed that the shingle blocks are 
steamed, and presented to the knife while the timber 
is still soft. The wheel revolves with great rapidity, 
and ordinary knots form not the slightest obstacle. 
How easily could proprietors cover their cottages with 
a neat article prepared by this machine, and shaved 
so smooth as to admit the laying on of paint v/ith 
accuracy. This discovery is secured by letters patent, 
and will soon be introduced throughout the country. 

By the use of Fay's tenoning machine, — another 
late and valuable invention, — one man can tenon all 
the studs for ten such houses as the -prairie cottage"' 
daily, besides preparing these same studs for the plates 
to receive the joists. This expeditious method is as 
follows : The studs are sawed twelve feet long. The 
moment cne end is presented to the machine, the tenon 
is made, and the other end despatched immediately. 
A cylindrical saw excavates a small "gain," eight feet 
from the bottom of the studs. "With four sills obtained 
from the woods, and the necessary plates mortised by 
the above machine, the framing is done ; if we except 
bevelling the rafters. 

If these labor-saving machines are employed, and 
the whole frame completed at the mill, it can generally 



56 



be floated or carted to the place selected, and set up in 
a few days. 

The exterior of the prairie cottage, thus constructed, 
should be covered with a coat of whitewash ; this will 
add much to its neatness of appearance, and preserve 
the timber from decay. The labor of a few leisure 
hours, employed in planting vines and evergreens to 
twine around the pillars which support the porch, or 
in placing at proper intervals a few fine fruit trees on 
the land adjacent to the house, would meet an ample 
recompense. 

The further sum of $100, expended, in addition to 
the erection of the cottage, in the excavation of a well, 
and in ditching, for exterior and division fences, would 
increase the value of a half section or three hundred 
and twenty acres, to $1,500 or $2,000. 

These improvements will enable the proprietor to sell 
or rent his lands on favorable terms. As soon as the 
canal is open to Lake Erie, settlers will rush into the 
Wabash valley, and people that productive region with 
extreme rapidity. Much of the fine land of that valley 
will bring in a few years from $15 to $20 per acre. 

Those who have resided hitherto in wood-lands, 
amidst stumps and roots, will soon realize the value of 
thoroughly cleared land, and seek with avidity the 
choice prairie farm, divided by ditches and embank- 
ments into suitable fields ready for the plough, and 
possessing the advantage of a comfortable cottage. 

To the estimates given in a j)receding portion of this 
chapter of the cost of improvement by the ordinary 
methods, we annex others, showing the cost of acliial 
atUivation, and improvements, with the prairie cottage 
and hedofe fence. 



0/ 



It should be recollected by our readers, that the fol- 
lowing estimates are made for the first year only. 
The profits, therefore, are those that remain after 
paying for the farm. It will be seen that the sum 
of $1,440 is allowed for " breaking up the sod " upon 
640 acres ; but all, after ploughing, will cost less than 
one-quarter of this amount. 

In the calculation made of the expense and income 
of raising hay for southern exportation, the reader 
will discover that no allowance has been made for seed ; 
but he will also perceive that we have omitted the 
profit derivable from the land as pasture, when the 
grass has been cut off. Nor have we noticed the plan 
pursued by many of rolling or harrowing in the seed 
without a previous ploughing. Of the success of these 
modes, after the compact sod of the prairies has once 
been broken, there can be little doubt, while the ex- 
pense they save is easily imagined. 

In the estimate given of the wheat crop, we have 
also omitted the profits of the srraw upon the land, 
which is accounted in the eastern States of so much 
value. 

The sums allowed for mowing and for pulling flax 
may appear too small to many ; they are, however, 
ample if machines are used, which will be described 
in the two succeeding chapters. 

By a careful examination of the various items, our 
readers will discover that the expenditures of the 
second year will be lessened in each estimate more 
than f 2,000. 

Estimate of cultivation, and the products of six 
hundred and forty acres in flax : 



58 

Six hundred and forty acres in account with the cuUivalor. 

To 610 acres of land, at SI 25 per acre 

To ditching and fencing the same, at 25 cents per acre 

To house, like plan - . . . . 

To well 

To breaking up 640 acres, at $2 25 per acre - 

To 640 bushels of seed, at fl per bushel 

To harrowing giound and sowing seed, at 60 cents per 

acre -..-... 
To pulling flax, at 50 cents per acre , - - 

To threshing seed and stacking flax . . - 

To delivering stem at flax mill, at SI per ton, (640 

tons,) is ♦ - 640 00 



Dr. 


S800 00 


160 00 


200 00 


25 00 


1,410 00 


640 00 


384 00 


320 00 


300 00 



Amount - - - S4,909 00 



Cr. 
By 7,680 bushels (12 bushels to the acre) of seed, at $1, 

is S7,6S0 00 

By 640 tons of stem, at S12 per ton, is - - - 7,680 00 



Amount- - -S15,3.60 00 



Income, as before - - . . - - $15,360 00 

Deduct expenses - . - - - . 4,909 00 



Profit - - -S10,451 00 



Allowing even one-half of the appareRt profit for 
contingencies ; what now is the value of the farm? 

Estimate of six hundred and forty acres in wheat : 

Six hundred and forty acres in account with the cultivator. 

Dr. 
To 640 acres of land, at $1 25 per acre - - S800 00 
To ditching and fencing the same, at 25 cents per acre 100 00 
To house, like plan - - - - - 200 00 

To well 25 00 



59 



To breaking up 610 acres, at $2 25 per acre - - SI, 440 00 

To 9G0 bushels of seed, at 75 cents - - - 720 00 

To harrowing and sowing, at 60 cents per acre - 384 00 

To cutting wheat, (with Hussey's machine,) at 25 

cents per acre ------ 160 00 

To stacking wheat . - . - - 123 00 

To threshing 16,000 bushels - - - - 500 00 



Amount - - - $4,514 00 



Cr. 



By 16,000 bushels of wheat, (25 bushels to the acre,) at 

75 cents per bushel S12,000 00 



Income, as before ----- $12,00000 

Deduct expenditures - - - - - 4,514 00 



Profit - - - #7,486 00 



Estimate of six hundred und forty acres in grass : 

Six him-drcd and forty acres in account with the cultivator. 

Dr. 
To 640 acres of land, at SI 25 per acre - - S800 00 

To ditching and fencing the same, at 25 cents per acre 160 00 

To house, like plan 200 00 

To well 25 00 

To breaking up 640 acres, at S3 25 per acre - - 1,440 00 

To harrowing and sowing seed, at 60 cents per acre - 384 00 

To mowing, making, and pressing 1,280 tons, at S2 50 

per ton 3,200 00 

To freight on 1,280 tons to New Orleans, at S8 per ton 10,240 00 

r 

Amount - - - 816,449 00 



Cr. 
By sale of 1,280 tons, at $25, (average price at New 
Orleans,) is - - - - - - ,^32,000 00 



60 



Income, as before . . - . . S'32,000 CO 

Deduct for expendilure - .... 1G,449 00 

Profit - - - 815,551 CO 



The estimate of two tons to the acre may be 
thought too hirge. If so, one ton and a half can 
be assumed as the basis of calculation. It is true, 
however, t'aat no small poitiou of choice land along 
the Wabash will produce upwards of two tons to 
the acre. 

It is found that the profit derived from the different 
products enumerated, stands as follows : 

Profits. 
Six hundred and forty acres in flax - - -$10,471 00 

Six hundred and forty acres in wheat - - - 7,486 00 

Six hundred and forty acres in grass - - - 15,55100 

The estimates of profits, astonishing as they may 
appear, are nevertheless the actual results that would 
attend the successful cultivation of a farm one year. 
The further amount of profits to be derived on hay and 
flax will be detailed under their appropriate heads here- 
after. 

Even sinking the whol(? estimates as given full one- 
half, who does not perceive that the results are still 
most striking !■ 

Considerable scepticism has hitherto prevailed 
throughout this country on the subject of ditching, 
and the substitution of sod embankments for the 
fences now in general use. This feeling has, un- 
doubtedly, arisen from repeated failures to attain the 
benefits proposed by these important methods of 
drainincr and enclosing land. These disappointments, 
however, occurring, it is believed, in every instance. 



61 



from ignorance of the proper modes of operation^ 
will, in fulure, disappear before the aid of valuable 
machines recently constrncted to attain the ends 
desired, together with a more extended knowledge 
of the subject. 

In Europe, even in the cold regions of Norway, 
ditches and embankments answer a most valuable 
purpose. In England they are found practicable 
and highly ornamental. Why, then, are they not 
adapted to our western prairies? Not surely from 
their climate, which is comparatively mild, or from 
any defect in the soil ; since the universal result of 
experiment would lead us to select the latter as the 
one adapted, from its nature, to their safe construction. 

One great error arises from the fact that the angle 
of the ditch is often too acute for sodding. The slope, 
if not too steep, can be seeded down with blue grass, 
or a turf may be applied directly at a small expense. 
Should the latter method be adopted, we recommend 
ploughing several furrows of turf, two or three inches 
deep, v/hich can be divided at the length required, by 
means of a roller, containing knives placed at proper 
intervals on its circumference, at right angles with 
,the periphery. Turf thus prepared can be applied to 
the embankment with rapidity, and several hundred 
rods could be sodded daily by a single hand. 

Such i;; deemed the importance of a good ditchino- 
machine, that numerous applicants, from various 
portions of the Union, are pressing their claims to 
patents for inventions of this nature. One individual 
alone, has deposited in the Patent Office, at Washington 
City, eighteen models, exhibiting different modes of 



62 



accomplishing the end proposed. Several machines 
of this description are succeeding fully. One of 
these, the invention of Mr. G. Page, has been 
recently exhibited in Baltimore and Washington, and 
is being introduced, by purchase, into several of the 
States. So powerful is its operation, that it will 
excavate, at the rate of sixty feet per hour, a ditch 
three feet wide at top, and three feet deep ; at the 
same time laying the embankment on one side in a 
handsome manner. This labor is accomplished by a 
single horse, in aid of the machine. 

When it is considered that all that is required in 
the construction of drains and fences of the kind 
described, is to excavate a few feet of dirt, and arrange 
the same for an embankment, it is, indeed, surprising 
that the genius of inventors has not heretofore accom- 
plished an object, apparently so easy of attainment 
and productive in results. 

— "t*© ® ®<«'— 

CHAPTER VI. 

Exportation of hay to the southern markets. Cost per acre of prepar- 
ing it for market. Average yield per acre. Cost of transportation. 
Price at New Orleans. Estimate of costs and profits of one thousand 
acres seeded down with grass. Estimate of costs and profits of six 
hundred and forty acres. Hussey's mowing and reaping machine. 
Its great advantages. 

The superior adaptedness of the soil of the southern 

States to cotton, the immense profit derived from the 

sale and exportation of that article, and a climate, on 

the whole, unfavorable to the growth of grasses, have 

created, in that portion of our country, a dependence 



63 



on the middle and northern States for hay. This article 
of merchandise ah'eady engrosses the whole attention 
of many enterprising men, who have secured, or are 
securing, through its means, handsome fortunes as the 
reward of a few years' exertion. 

There are numerous advantages which attend a hay 
crop. If the crop is a small one, the price is propor- 
tionably high. If the market, on the other hand, is glut- 
ted, hay may be kept without injury for many years. 
The feed remaining after grass has been cut from the 
meadow, is highly prized ; and graziers are willing to 
give $5 per ton for hay, to feed out on the farm. Al- 
lowing that the farmer gets but this small sum, he may, 
in addition to securing the manure upon the land, re- 
ceive $7 (the interest of $116) profit from each acre. 

We are confident, that those engaged in pressing hay, 
will find it advantageous to compress the bundles (of 
the weight of from four to five hundred pounds) into a 
compass of twenty-four and twenty-six square feet. 
Peter A. Van Burgen, Esq., of New York, in giving his 
experience upon this subject, remarks, that if a press 
and horse, together with hoops and nails are furnished, 
laborers will press the hay at sixty-two or seventy-five 
cents per ton, and board them.selves. Three men will 
press from five to six tons daily. 

By information derived from various sources, and 
more particularly from data politely furnished by Messrs. 
Dunn, Buel, Gregg, Hustis, and others, residing near 
Lawrenceburgh. Indiana, and practically acquainted with 
the business, we are enabled to present our readers with 
the following conclusions : 

1. The quantity of hay shipped annually from 



64 



Lawrenceburgh to the southern markets varies from 
five to ten thousand tons. 

2. The cost of mowing, stacking, and pressing 
hay is from $2 to $3 per ton. 

3. The average product of the best land is two 
tons to the acre. 

4. The kind of hay most in demand is timothy. 

5. The vahie of pressed hay at Lawrenceburgh 
varies from iU^lO to $12. Mr. Buel sold two hundred 
tons for $11 at the press . 

6. The cost of transportation, in arks, constructed 
for the purpose, via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, 
to New Orleans, is $8 per ton. 

7. The price of hay at New Orleans has ranged 
between $20 and $50 to the ton, and is seldom less 
than $25. This may be assumed as the ordinary 
price. 

8." Hay-presses vary in cost, according to their 
size and power, from $60 to $100. 

9. It is recommended to add a small quantity of 
red clover, (say two quarts to a bushel,) when sowing 
timothy, to prevent the land from "binding." 

Nor can we omit to notice the great advantage of 
suffering timothy to remain uncut until the seed is ripe. 
By this delay the nutritious quality of the hay is in- 
creased one-third in value ; while from ten to thirty 
bushels of seed are gained per acre. This seed can be 
separated from the stem with little disadvantage to the 
hay as fodder; certainly none that bears comparison 
with the profits on the seed, which, at fifteen bushels 
per acre, would amount to $30. The seed alone on 
1 ,000 acres, would bring $30,000. This suggestion is 



65 



earnestly recommended to farmers in a late agricultural 
treatise by Fessenden. 

From these conclusions, the results of actual and 
repeated experiments, we can easily estimate the im- 
mense profit to be derived from raising hay for south- 
ern exportation. 

No finer grass land can be found, than that along the 
borders of the Wabash. Crops of two tons to the acre, 
could be raised with certainty, and arks constructed for 
the transportation of the hay, when pressed, to New 
Orleans. An estimate of the cost and cultivation of 
one thousand acres, would give the following result : 

One thousand acres m account ivith the cultivator. 

To 1,000 acres of land, at $1 25 per acre 

To breaking up the same, at $2 25 per acre - 

To ditching and fencing the same, at 15 cents per acre 

To harrowing and sowing seed, at 60 cents per acre - 

To mowing, raking, and pressing 2,000 tons of hay, at 

$2 50 per ton, is - - - - - 

To expense of transportation on 2,000 tons to New 

Orleans, at S-8 per ton - - - - 10,000 00 





Dr. 


$1 


,250 00 


2 


,250 00 




150 00 




GOO 00 


5 


,000 00 



Amount - - - $25,250 00 



Cr. 
By sale of 2,000 tons of hay, at i$25, (average price 

per ton,) is ^50,000 00 



Income derived from sales, &c. ... J^50,000 00 

Expenditures - - - . . - 25,250 00 



Proht - - - 824,750 00 



66 



Again, calcu]atin(]f at the rate of onl^ one ton to the 
acre, and the price of $20 to the ton, we shall have : 

Cash received for 1,000 tons of hay, at #20 per ton, is ^^20,000 00 
Expenditures - - - - - . - 14,750 00 



Profit - - - S5,250 00 



Or allowing in the first calculation, the sum of $10,000 
for contingencies, we should have : 

Apparent profit ------ $24,750 00 

Allowance for c6atin°:encies - - - - 10,000 00 



Profit - - - $14, 750 00 



Another estimate of the cost of 640 acres, fenced in 
the ordinary method, and containing a house upon it 
like the plan, would stand as follows : 

Six hundred and forty acres, in account ivUh the cuUivalor. 

Dk. 

To fi40 acres of land, at SI 25, is - - - S800 00 

Four miles, or 1,280 rods, at 20 rails to the rod, gives 
25,600 rails, to which add for enclosures, cribs, &c., 
1,400 rails. Total of rails is 27,000, which, at S'3 50 
per hundred, gives . - - - - 

Breaking up 640 acres, at $2 25 per acre 

House like plan, laj'ing up fence, and well 

Harrowing and sowing seed, at 60 cents per acre 

Mowing, raking, and pressing 960 tons, {one and a half 
ton per acre,) at ^^2 50 . - - - 

Transportation of 960 tons of hay to New Orleans, at S8 
per ton, is ..-.-- 7,68000 

Amount ■ - - $13,949 00 



945 00 


1,440 00 


300 00 


384 00 


2,400 00 



67 



Cr. 

By sale of OGO tons of hay, at $;20 per ton, is - - ^19,200 00 



Income, as above - , $19,200 00 

Expenditures - - - 13,919 00 



Profit - - S5,251 00 



We have, then, a profit of $5,25 1 on six hundred 
and forty acres, after faying for the land, with a 
good house, fencing in the ordinary manner, and 
calculating the 'product at only one and a half tons 
to the acre, and the price at the very lowest siim of 
$20. 

The reader must also bear in mind that the expen- 
ditures of the second year are materially diminished, 
and the profits consequently increased. The original 
cost of the land, and nearly the whole expense of 
breaking up the sod, are saved. In many cases no 
ploughing of the ground, at first, will be required. 
Afterburning the prairie grass in the spring, the seed 
may be sowed and harrowed in at once. 

The following estimate exhibits the profits and ex- 
penditures of the second year : 

Six hundred a?id forty acres i7i account with the cultivator. 

Dr. 

To harrowing and sowing seed, at 60 cents per acre - 384 00 
To moving, making, and pressing 1,280 tons, (2 tons 

per acre,) at S2 50 per ton - - - - 3,200 00 

To freight on 1,280 tons to New Orleans, at $S per ton 10,240 00 

Amount - - - $13,824 00 



68 



Cr. 



By sale of 1,280 tons of hay, at $25, (average price at 
New Orleans,) IS $32,000 00 



Income, as above - ' - - - - $32,000 00 

Deduct expenditures - - . . . 13,824 00 

Profit - - - SIS, 176 00 



Another material reduction, of the expense attending 
the cultivation of hay and other crops, will be found in 
the use of some of the mowing and reaping machines 
recently invented. 

A machine of this description, invented by Mr, 
Obed Hussey, of Cambridge, Maryland, has of late 
excited general admiration, from the neatness and 
rapidity of its execution., and the great amount of 
labor which its use will save. Its introduction on 
large farms, of the description we have mentioned, 
will undoubtedly be followed by remarkable results. 
These machines, when in good order, (and they seldom 
need repair,) can cut from twelve to fifteen acres of 
grass, and from fifteen to twenty acres of wheat, daily. 

The following letter from John Stonebraker, Esq., of 
Hagerstown, Maryland, will exhibit his experience in 
the use of this machine. 

He was induced (as the writer knows from personal 
communication with him on the subject) to try it from 
the representations of others, and with many misgiv- 
ings as to the result. That trial, however, has satis- 
fied him and with him, many of his neighbors, of the 
great utility of the machine. 

The letter is as follows : 



69 



Hagerstown, Avgust 15, 1837. 



Dear Sir : Will you please give this a place in 
your paper, for the benefit of wheat growers. As 
the subject is of public interest, it is hoped that other 
papers will circulate it through the grain growing dis- 
tricts of the country. 

I procured a reaping machine this summer of Mr. 
Hussey, the inventor, which I have used through my 
wheat harvest. It was in constant use every day, and 
performed its work to my satisfaction, and far better than 
I had any expectation of, when I first engaged it of Mr. 
Hussey. When the ground is clear of rocks, loose stones, 
stumps, <fcc., and the grain stands well, it cuts it per- 
fectly clear, taking every head ; and, if well managed, 
scatters none, but leaves it in neat heaps ready for bind- 
ing. When the grain is flat down, the machine will of 
course pass over it; but if it be leaning, or tangled only, 
it is cut nearly as well as if standing, excepting when it 
leans from the machine, and then if the horses are put 
in a trot it \y'\\\ be very well cut. But in cutting such 
grain much depends on the expertness of the hand who 
pushes off the grain, in making clean work and good 
sheaves. I found the machine capable of going through 
anything growing on my wheat land, such as weeds and 
grass, no matter how thick. 

After my harvest was over, I cut my seed timothy, 
with the same neatness and ease that I did my grain. 
As respects the durability of the machine, I can say this 
much for my machine, that not the least thing has given 
out yet ; it appears as strong as a cart, and but little 
liable to get out of order, if well used. I was advised 
by Mr. Hussey, of the necessity of keeping some of the 



70 



parts ^vell greased ; this I have pimctimll}'- attended to, 
and no perceptible \vear yet appears, be^'^ond the ordinary 
wear of any other machinery. 

It is inmiaterial to the machine whether tlie speed be 
a wall?, or trot ; ahhough a walk will make the most 
perfect work. My speed was a common walk, but a trot 
is sometimes necessary to counteract the eiFect of a 
strong wind when blowing from behind, in order to in- 
cline the grain backwards, on to the platform, to make 
good bundles. A quick walk is required to make good 
work in very short and scattering grain. The machine 
performs well, up or down hill, provided the surface be 
not too broken. By its compactness and ease of man- 
agement, rocks, and stumps too high to be cut over, can 
be easily avoided. Although a rough surface is very 
objectionable, yet I have cut over very rocky ground 
with no material difficulty. I can say one thing which 
to some may appear incredible, but it is not the less true : 
the cutters of my machine have not been sharpened 
since I have had it ; nor have I yet seen any appearance 
of a need of it in the quality of its work. How many 
harvests a machine would cut without sharpening is 
hard to say ; I propose sharpening mine once a year 
only. I have used two horses at a time in the machine, 
and sometimes changed at noon ; they worked it with 
ease, the draught being light. I took no account of 
what I cut in any one day, with this exception : in less 
tlian half a day I cut six acres, and was often detained 
for want of the requisite number of binders, by which 
much time was lost. My machine being something 
narrower than those generally made by Mr. Hussey, I 
could cut but about one acre in going two miles; this, at 



71 



the moderate gait of two and a half miles per hour, 
would amount to twelve and a half acres in ten hours; 
and at lour miles per hour, a speed at which the work 
is done m line style, the amount would be twenty acres 
in ten hours, I should judge my quantity per day to 
range between ten and fifteen acres, yet I am decided 
in the opinion that I can cut twenty acres in a day, of 
good grain, on good ground, by the usual diligence of 
harvest hands, with a little increase of my usual speed, 
and a change of horses. Two hands are required to 
work the machine, a man to push off the grain and a 
boy to drive, besides a number of binders, proportioned 
to the quantity cut. As the machine can be drawn 
equally fast in heavy or light grain, the number of 
binders is necessarily increased in heavy grain, except 
an additional speed be given in light grain. Under 
every circumstance, the number of binders will vary 
from four to ten ; and, when the usual care is practised, 
by the binders, there will be much less waste than in 
any other method of cutting. 

I speak with more confidence of the merits and ca- 
pacity of Mr. Hussey's reaping machine, from the cir- 
cumstance of having pushed the grain off myself for 
several days, in order to make myself practically and 
thoroughly acquainted with it, before putting it into the 
hands of my laboring men. The land in this county 
being rather rocky and uneven, it is hard to say what 
may be the ultimate advantage of these machines to 
our farmers ; but from what little experience I have had, 
I am resolved not to be without one or two of them. I 
can therefore recommend the machine with confidence, 
especially to those who have a large proportion of smooth 



72 



ground in cultivation. It is undoubtedly a labor saving 
machine, and worthy of their attention. 

JOHN STONEBRAKER. 
Mr. Bell, Editor of the Torch Light. 

To this testimonial from one of the best and most 
practical farmers in Maryland, could be added many 
more, should they be needed. Farther improvements 
on the part of the inventor, during the past year, have 
much increased the power of the machine; and its 
adoption, as a valuable agricultural implement, is be- 
coming very general. 

One of these machines is now in the possession of the 
writer, which arrived too late for use during the harvest 
of the present season. From one or two trials, however, 
and those under the disadvantageous circumstances of 
arranging a new machine, and the forced selection of a 
spot little suited for experiment, no doubt remains of 
tlie result. 

We add a letter to the inventor from Colonel 
Tilghmann. who also resides near Hagerstown, Mary- 
land. 

September 15, 1S37. 

Sir : Your wheat cutting machine was used by me 
in securing my clover seed. With one man, three 
boys, and two horses, we cut about twelve acres per 
day. The operation ivas in every respect complete. 
The clover was well cut, and deposited in proper 
sized heaps, and no raking required, further than to 
remove the heaps of cut clover from the track of the 
machine. The whole operation was easily performed 
by the hands and the horses. 



73 



In the operation of cutting wheat, I followed the 
machine for two hours in the field of Mr. John Stone- 
braker, during the late wheat harvest, and can vouch 
for the operation in securing his wheat in the manner 
described in his publication. The late improvements 
made by you in your machine have added greatly to 
the beauty and facility of iJs operation. 
Yours, respectfully, 

F. TILGHMANN. 

Mr. HussEY. 

We add the following notice of this machine, 
from Messrs. S. and E. P. Le Compte, enterprising 
farmers, of Cambridge, Maryland, as follows : 

Cambridge, July 3, 1S38. 
We have employed Mr. Gbed Hussey's wheat 
cutting machine to cut for us about thirty-four acres ; 
the greater part of which was very heavy. We were 
remarkably well pleased with the performance of said 
machine, and are of opinion that, with proper manage- 
ment and attention, it will cut twenty acres per day, 
and save it much better tiian any other mode of cutting 
we have ever tried. 

S. & E. P. LE COMPTE. 

To which is appended the following postscript : 
I have been a practical farmer forty years ; and am 
well satisfied, that, on a large farm, this machine will 
save wheat enough, beyond the scythe and hooks, to 
pay all the expense of cutting and binding. 

SAMUEL LE COMPTE. 

Further details of this excellent invention will be 
found in the appendix. 



74 



Various improvements in sowing and raking de- 
serve a passing notice. Valuable machines are fur- 
nished for the former purpose at $25, for the latter at 
$15. By the use of these machines, thirty acres can 
be sowed, and the same quantity raked daily ; the 
attendant riding throughout the whole operation, on 
a comfortable seat ivith sprhigs ! 

The operations of machines of this description, on 
the smooth and fertile prairies of the west, is easily 
imagined. There, if any where in the wide field of 
agricultural experiment, will be found the scene of 
their advantages and triumphs. 

In confirmation of the average product of two tons 
of hay to the acre, which we have assumed as the basis 
of onr calculation, we call the attention of our readers 
to a second letter from Judge Porter, addressed as before. 

Eugene, March 7, 1837. 
Dear Sin : I rejoice to learn that your attention 
has been drawn to raising hay. By slow degrees I 
have been turning my farm to pasture and meadow. A 
3'ear ago last autumn. I sowed sixty acres of timothy, 
herd, and orchard grass, in the overflowed bottom of the 
Wabash ; and twenty acres of it I sowed in wheat, 
when stocked. From the portion in w^hcat, I had a 
fraction less than thirty bushels to the acre, and I am 
satisfied there would have been thirty-five, if it had 
not been sowed so early and grown so luxuriantly that 
patches fell and did not fill. It was of the red chaff 
bearded wheat, and weighed sixty pounds per bushel. 

A part of my grass I mowed the first of June, and 
obtained two tons per acre. / mowed the sumo a 
second time, and inoduced from one ion to one and a 



75 



half jyer acre. The balance I mowed, with a product 
of two tons, after harvesting. My experiment in wheat 
satisfied me, that if we have any land secure from 
'• winter killing," it must be oar river bottoms. This 1 
think is owing to their protection by an adjoining bluff, 
and the soil being compact and not liable to be thrown 
up by the frost. All my neighbors predicted I should 
not reap my seed, and I was, therefore, more close in 
my observations. 

The whole of the land, above mentioned, had been 
planted the last ten years in corn, and I am confident 
the profit was more than that of any three years pre- 
ceding. 

Should you visit my residence next June, I will 
satisfy you. that I shall cut tliree tons of hay from 
every acre the first crop. I have a hundred acres 
adjoining, which I intend to keep my cattle on, until 
August, when I shall plough the same, and at the 
proper season sow my wheat and timothy seed. I may 
fail in my wheat, but nothing can destroy my timothy. 
As I have commenced a detail of my experiments, I 
will tell you how I have succeeded with clover on our 
upland or sand prairies. My brother farmers discourag- 
ed me, and I yielded to their opinion, till I found my 
best lands were tiring with,a continued round of corn, 
wheat, oats, rye, and barley. A year ago last spring, 
I sowed fifty acres with oats and barley. The ground 
was well prepared, and roiled with a two yoke of oxen 
roller. The spring was favorable, and when I harvest- 
ed my barley and oats, the clover was mid leg high and 
in full flower. It made a fine fall pasture for my sheep, 
hogs, and even cattle. Last spring, when the clover 



76 



was shooting for flower, I turned my catile in. I will 
not tax your credulity by even conjecturing what the 
product was per acre; but 1 kept on it, until winter, 
two hundred head of sheep, (and you know how they 
eat.) several horses, one hundred hogs, and sixty or 
seventy neat cattle, till my wheat fields were clear. 
There were, in all, three enclosures, and I changed for 
the health of my sheep. I shall sow about the same 
quantity this year, but change the experiment a little. 
In connexion with the clover, I shall sow about one- 
Ihird or one-half in orchard grass. I have tried this 
method on a small scale, and believe, that sow clover as 
thick as you may, it will produce a third more when 
mixed with orchard grass. My knowledge of the 
nutritious properties of this admixture, was gained by 
accident. I had a small patch for seed, and it was ne- 
cessary to pasture it. In doing this, I found my cattle to 
thrive upon it exceedingly. Indeed, I have known cattle 
to cat it out by the roots, and reject clover and timothy. 
I am a great admirer of your plan of enclosing farms 
by hedge and ditch ; but I think I could offer 3'ou a sub- 
stitute for blue grass, (to sow on the embankment,) that 
will be far preferable. I allude to the - gama" grass. I 
have conversed with several who have cultivated it, and 
they say that it has the strongest root of all the grasses. 
The blue grass has a very delicate root, and cannot 
withstand even a moderate drought. The reason why 
my attention was turned to it, was this : I have about 
eight hundred acres of overflowed land, designed by na- 
ture to be '• leveed," and my first thought was to find 
some grass that would prevent the "lev^e" from crum- 
bling. Besides, its incredible product of hay is worthy 



77 



of the farmer's notice. I was assured by a gentleman, 
that, every thing favoring, ten tons could be cut from 
an acre in one season^ so rapid is its growth ! 
Yours, with great respect, 

JOHN R. PORTER. 

Before closing this chapter it maybe well to mention, 
that the extreme cheapness of constructing " timber rail- 
roads," will materially reduce the price of transporting 
the produce of inland farms to navigable water. 
From the testimony of able engineers, it appears that 
roads of this description can be made at the trifling 
cost of eight hundred dollars per mile. Ribbons of 
maple, or, what is equally good, burr oak, are substi- 
tuted for iron rails, and form an admirable track for 
horses. Power, of this description, wnll impel cars at the 
rate of ten miles per hour ; and with increased means, 
iron rails can be added for locomotives. The very 
ingenious contrivance of Mr. Cram, for driving piles in 
uneven or soft ground, lessens vastly the expense of 
grading. By these piles, ravines are crossed with ease 
and economy. 

Those who have not reflected on this subject, cannot 
estimate the advantages of these cheap railroads, in re- 
gard to farms. Besides the gain of time in rapidity of 
travelling, the expense of marketing produce is reduced 
at least three-fourths. A farmer residing eight miles 
from market, and cultivating one thousand acres for the 
sake of hay, would, at the estimates before given, raise 
at least two thousand tons. The transportation of this by 
the ordinary modes, would cost $2 per ton, amounting to 
$4,000, and make tw^o thousand loads. The use of a 



78 



railroad like the one described, would enable him to 
convey the same amount of produce at fifty cents per ton, 
saving the sum of $3,000. The whole road would 
cost but $6,400, the interest of which is $384, and could 
be constructed from the contributions of those residing 
along the route. 

It is seriously questioned, whether the western States 
could not use this form of railroads v/ith great profit 
for the first few years, until the revenue derived from 
tolls and travellers would allow the substitution of an 
iron rail.* 

Experiments of great accuracy have been lately 
made to test the different degrees of friction, under 
a change of circumstances ; which we add as exhibiting 
how small an amount of power is requisite to draw one 
ton on a railroad. Forty-two pounds applied over a 
pulley, will draw on a railroad, entirely of wood, one 
ton in weight. Estimating a horse power at one 
hundred and fifty pounds, one horse could draw 
easily, at a rapid rate, three and a half tons. 

The following is the experiment on a stone at rest 
in the first instance, on smooth quarry ground : 

Pou7ids. 
Power required to mov^e, horizontally, a stone weighing 

1,080 pounds, at rest on a quarry floor, is - - 750 

Do. resting on a plank - . . - . 652 

Do. on wood over the floor - . . . 606 

Do. if the planks are soaped ... - 182 
Do. if on rollers of timber, there is required to put it 

in motion ...... 34 

Do. to draw it after started - - - - 28 

Do. on platforms and rollers - - - - 22 

♦ See letter from J. Wilkinson, Esq. in the Appendix. 



79 



CIIArTEU VII. 

Adaptation of the western prairies to the cultivation of flax. Q.nan- 
tity of seed to be sown, and time of sowing. Amount of stem, and 
its wortli. Amount of seed. Amount of oil from a bushel of seed. 
Hill and Bundy's machine for dressing flax without dew-rotting. 
Notice of the short staple produced by a new process. iVlauufac- 
ture of paper from flax, and other materials. 

The soil of the prairies is so admirably adapted to 
the growth of flax, and the profits of that article in its 
various preparations are so great, that it seems destined, 
at no distant era, to become the main production of the 
western States. 

Late improvements in breaking and drying flax 
have materially enhanced the value of the crop. Not 
only tlie ordinary long staple, is now readily spun, 
hut the fibre (by a new process) is reduced to such 
a texture, that it can be spun and worked into linen 
cloth, on the same machinery, and hy nearly the same 
process, as cotton, with but little difference in expense. 
The former tedious process of dew or water rotting, 
as well as that of pulling flax, are also now dispensed 
with. 

Before examining the increased advantages of the 
flax crop, resulting from the application of these new 
discoveries, we shall present our readers with a concise 
detail of its cultivation and products, 

1. The result of experiment shows that a rich and 
moist soil is best adapted for the luxuriant growth of 
flax. 

2. The proper time for sowing flax seed is as early 
in the spring as the ground can be prepared for its 
reception. 



so 



3. The quantity of seed, necessary to be sown per 
acre, varies from a bushel to a bushel and a half. 

4. If the crop is free from weeds and of good length 
when ripe, it can be cradled. 

5. Flax can be pulled, in the ordinary mode, at 
$2 50 or $3 per acre, by the use of the machine re- 
ferred to in the note,* at about thirty-seven and a half 
cents per acre. 

6. From twelve to fifteen bushels of seed is the 
average product per acre. 

7. One ton of stem may be assumed as the average 
yield per acre, though in England this amount is often 
doubled. From one ton to one ton and a half, can 
easily be raised on the rich soil of the prairies. 

8. The stem alone is worth $12 per ton. 

9. The seed, in the eastern markets, varies from 
$1 50 to $2 per bushel. 

10. From three to three and a half tons of the 
stem will furnish one ton of dressed flax, ordinary long 
staple. 

11. Dressed flax is worth, for exportation, six cents 
per pound, or ^120 per ton. 

12. The labor of preparing dressed flax is estimated 
at from one to three-quarters of a cent per pound. 

13. Fifteen pints of oil are allowed to each bushel 
of seed. 

From the above data, we can readily perceive how 
advantageous the cultivation of flax will be when 
conducted merely with reference to the seed, oil, oil- 
cake, or production of the long staple for cordage and 

*Brittain's flax pulling machine. This machine is drawn by one 
horscj and pulls four acres daily. 



81 



coarse cloths. The cake alone is estimated as fully- 
paying the expense of mannflictiiring the oil. 

Those whose means will allow of large plantations 
devoted to this product, will find it advantageous to 
break their own flax. This can be done by water 
power, if accessible; if not, by the purchase and 
erection of a small steam-engine, which will answer 
the double purpose of breaking the flax and pressing 
the seed. The profit of manufacturing seed will 
appear, from the quantity of oil obtained, and its 
market value. Oil of this description may be estimated 
as worth, at the west, from $1 to $1 37 per gallon. 
Many who have made the experiment, assert that 
the woody fibre obtained from the flax will support the 
engine during the whole operation. 

Of the profit derived from three hundred and 
twenty acres of flax, cultivated with reference to the sale 
of the seed and stem, we have spoken in a previous 
chapter. The increased value of the same, when manu- 
factured into oil, and the ordinary long staple, will 
form the subject of remarks hereafter. 

In Loudon's Encyclopedia, (the most valuable and 
comprehensive treatise on agriculture ever published,) 
will be found a description of Hill & Bundy's machines 
for breaking hemp and flax without dew rotting. Their 
small cost renders them accessible to those of mod- 
erate means. They are described as "portable, and 
may be worked in barns or any kind of out houses ; 
they are also well calculated for parish work-houses 
and charitable institutions ; a great part of the work 
being so light, that it may be done by children and 
infirm persons. And such is the construction and 
6 



b2 



simplicity of these machines, that no previous instruction 
or practice is required. The woody part is removed 
by a very simple machine ; and by passing through a 
machine equally simple, the flax may be brought to any 
deo-ree of fineness, equal to the best used in France, or 
the Nc^therlands, Jor the finest lace or cambric. The 
orioinal length of the fibre, as well as its strength, remains 
unimpaired ; and the difference of product is immense, 
being nearly two-thirds, one ton of flax being produced 
from four tons of stem. The expense of working each 
ton obtained by this method is only £.5 sterling. The 
glutinous matter may be removed by soap and water 
only, which will bring the flax to such perfect white- 
ness, that no further bleaching is necessary, even after 
the linen is woven ; and the whole process of prepar- 
ing flax may be completed in six days." 

For the purpose of ascertaining whether flax could 
be raised with advantage on the western prairies, Mr. 
Schermerhorn visited one of the largest flax manufac- 
tories in the United States, conducted by Mr. Sands 01- 
cott, at New Hope, Pennsylvania. The results of that 
investigation will be found in the following letter, 
too-ether with a description of the short staple we have 
mentioned: 

New York, Jnhj 28, 1838. 
Dear Sir : Agreeably to your request, on my 
return from Washington City, I visited Mr. Sands 
Olcott, of New Hope, Pennsylvania, the gentleman 
who has discovered a method of preparing the short 
staple flax, (of which you showed me a specimen at 
the Patent Office,) so as to make it into linen on the 
common cotton machinery now in use. It is, indeed. 



83 



a beautiful and valuable article, having such a fine 
gloss or silky appearance, that most persons mistake 
it for raw silk. The ititroduction of this article will 
be of great importance to our country, and will pro- 
duce a great and profitable change in our manufac- 
tories. I found Mr. Olcott very ready to communicate 
to me such information as I was in search of, in refer- 
ence to the cultivation of flax, and manufacturing it 
into his short staple, with a view of ascertaining 
whether the raising of flax can be made profitable 
on our western prairies. 

From the information I have received, I have no 
doubt that linen of as good quality can be made from 
the short staple prepared by Mr. Olcott. as has been 
made by any method heretofore pursued. I know it 
may be conjectured that, by separating the fibre and 
bleaching it, in preparing the short staple flax, the 
linen made from it will not be of as good quality as 
that made in the old way. But if you will go to the 
trouble of taking a few threads out of any piece of 
linen, and untwist them, and then pull them to pieces, 
you will find you have the same kind of article from 
it that Mr. Olcott calls his short staple flax. From this 
it appears to me that, by the ordinary process of water 
or dew rotting, breaking, swingling, halchling, spinning, 
weaving, and bleaching, the fibre of the flax, when 
manufactured into linen, in the common way, under- 
goes the same change in separating the gluten from it 
that is effected by Mr. Olcott, by a short and speedy 
process, before it is made into cloth. Indeed, I think 
it will make a better and firmer linen, because the gluten 
is perfectly separated from the fibre before it is woven ; 



84 

whereas, by the old method, much of the gluten re- 
mains in the fibre after it has been water and dew 
rotted and manufactured into cloth, and which is 
separated by bleaching. Consequently, according to 
the quantity of gluten separated from the cloth, it be- 
comes loose and open, though this defect the m.anufac- 
turer studies to disguise by starching. From experi- 
ments already made, Mr. Olcott is satisfied that his 
short staple flax can be manufactured into linen, on 
common cotton machinery, as easy and cheap as 
cotton shirting can be made of the same quality. I 
mean now only as to the price of spinning and weaving 
per yard. If this be so, the flax crop will soon become 
of as much importance and profit to the farmers and 
manufacturers of the northern States, as the cotton 
crop is to the southern States; for the difference 
between linen and cotton cloth of the same quality, is 
about as one to four, or twelve and a half cents to 
fifty, in favor of linen, while the flax crop can be raised 
m half the time, and with less than half the expense 
of a cotton crop. This discovery of Mr. Olcott will 
make as great a change in the linen trade as the inven- 
tion of Whitney's cotton gin did in the cotton trade ; 
and must, in a short time, greatly increase the 
demand, and enhance the value of prairie lands, in 
Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin, which are 
admirably adapted to the cultivation of flax. Indeed, 
1 have seen a wild flax, resembling our common flax, 
grow spontaneously in the prairie. Farmers settled 
on the prairies of the west will do well to turn their 
attention to the cultivation of flax, as one of the most 
productive crops \hey can raise. The lands in New 



85 



Jersey and Pennsylvania, in tlie vicinity of New Hope, 
as an average crop, yield one ton to the acre of the 
stem, which sells readily at J^12 per ton ; and it is fair 
to calculate the flax seed worth at least as ranch more 
from an acre, which will amount to $24, the avails 
from an acre of flax. This, the farmers here consider 
doing a good business. However, in our rich prairies 
of the west, we can raise from one and a half to two 
tons per acre, as easily as they raise one in New Jersey ; 
and by sowing our seed the first crop on the prairie 
sod, we shall have no weeds for some time to contend 
with. Instead of being under the necessity of 
pulhng our flax by hand, we shall be able to reap it 
with our mowing machines, and this will enable our 
farmers to raise very extensive crops, from which they 
will realize great profits. 

Mr. Olcott informed me, that in his flax establishment 
at New Hope, he works up about 3,000 tons of flax in 
the stem per year ; and that this will produce about 
430 tons of his short staple flax : that is, it takes seven 
tons of the raw material to manufacture one ton of short 
staple fine flax. The expense of manufacturing the 
fine flax, including the price of the raw material, is about 
$250 per ton. The expense of making this fine flax 
into fine linen, will be four cents a yard for spinning, 
weaving, and puting it up ready for market. This cal- 
culation is made on the supposition that prices for spin- 
ning and weaving will be about the same as that of 
cotton. In the above estimates, however, nothing is 
included except the expense of the hands that do the 
work. The interest on the capital invested, the 



86 



risks on the building, and wear and tear of the ma- 
chinery is not taken into the account, 

1 deem it very important for the interests of our coun- 
try that hnen factories should be established ; and if 
the profit arising from this business was generally 
known, I have no doubt capital to any amount could be 
raised to carry them on very extensively. As I take a 
deep interest in this matter, I have endeavored to obtain 
all the information 1 could on the subject, with a view 
of calling the attention of capitalists to this branch of 
business. I will now give you briefly the sum of the 
matter : 

1. Estimate for buildings and machinery to manu- 
facture 1,000 tons of short staple flax per year, accord- 
ing to information derived from Mr. Olcott, will cost 

about $30,000 

The actual expense of preparing 1,000 tons, 

including the expense of the raw material, 

at $250 per ton - - . 250,000 



$280,000 



Now let us estimate this fine flax worth fifty cents per 
pound, which will not be deemed an extravagant price, 
when it is considered that every pound of flax will make 
from four to five yards of cloth, say four yards, and that 
this can be manufactured dXfoiir cejitsTper yard. Tiiese 
1,000 tons, being 2,000,000 pounds, will be worth, at 50 
cents per pound . - - ■ $1,000,000 

Now deduct from this, as above, for build- 
ings, machinery, raw material, and ex- 



87 



pense of manufacturing the short staple 

flax - - - - - 8280,000 



Which leaves a profit, after paying for 

building and machinery - - $720,000 



2. Estimate for manufacturing the short staple into 
line linen. I have been informed, by gentlemen engaged 
in cotton factories, that it is considered a fair and safe 
estimate, in establishing cotton factories, that every loom 
you put into operation will cost $1,000. This includes 
all expense for site, buildings, machinery, (fee. A power 
loom, to go into complete operation, it is estimated, will 
turn out 30 yards of cloth a day. Then to manufacture 
1,000 tons of fine flax, being 2,000,000 pounds, which 
will make 8,000,000 of yards, you must have in operation 
about 850 looms, which, at $1,000 each, give $850,000 
For spinning 2,000,000 pounds, at 8 cen^s 

per pound . - . . 160,000 

For weaving and puting up 8,000,000 yds., 

at two cents per yard - - . 160,000 

For 1,000 tons or 2,000,000 pounds of short 

staple flax, at 50 cents - - - 1,000,000 



The wholeexpenseof buildings, machinery, 
labor, and stock, for producing 8,000,000 
yards of fine linen, is - - - $2,170,000 



If we estimate this linen at fifty cents per yard, then 
•8,000,000 yards, at 50 cents, is - - $4,000,000 



88 



Deduct for buildings, machinery, stock, 
and labor . . . _ $2,170,000 



Which leaves the net proceeds - - $i, 830,000 



Now, according to the above estimates, the farmers on 
the western prairies would make from a flax crop at 
least from $25 to $30 per acre from their land, which 
cost them only $1 25 per acre. 

The manufacturers of the raw material into the fine 
short staple flax, would make between two and three 
hundred per cent, on their capital invested in this 
business. 

And the linen manufacturer, after paying for all 
his buildings, machinery, stock, and labor, would clear 
nearly one hundred per cent, the first year ; and after 
that his profits will also be between two and three hun- 
dred per cent, on his investments. From this it is evi- 
dent that linen might be manufactured and sold from 
fifty to one hundred per cent, below the above estimated 
prices ; and yet, all engaged in tbis business make it a 
very profitable operation. This would be a great 
savinof to the consumers of this article. But this is not 
the only advantage the country will derive from the in- 
troduction and manufacture of the short staple flax ; for 
we shall have introduced a new staple, admirably 
adapted to be combined with other staples, particularly 
that of silk. This will greatly aid the silk manuf^ic- 
turers of our country, and enable them soon to furnish 
a considerable quantity of this new and very sub- 
stantial article for wearing apparel for the use of 
gentlemen. If our farmers and manufacturers were to 



89 



turn their attention to the ciUtivation of flax and manu- 
facture of linen, and of a silk and linen fabric, it would 
not only be very profitable to themselves, but annually 
save several millions of dollars to our country, which 
we now pay to other nations for linens and silks. This 
subject is certainly worthy the attention of every man 
who has the best interests and prosperity of his country 
at heart ; and I hope it will claim the attention of the 
farming and manufacturing interests in the States most 
interested in this business. 

I have given you my views freely on this subject. 
They have been drawn up hastily; let them pass for 
what they are worth, and make what use of them you 
please. 

I am, with great respect, 

Your friend, &c., 

J. F. SCHERMKRHORN. 
Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, 

Washington, D. C. 

We are aware that objections may be raised to the 
sum of fifty cents per pound for the " sliort staple ;" 
though that price might be sustained by reference to the 
present cost of linens. 

The short staple, however, can be prepared at about 
$250 per ton, and afforded at twenty-five cents per 
pound, giving an immediate profit of one hundred per 
cent. Allowing it to be bought at this price, it could 
be manufactured into linen and sold at twenty-five cents 
per yard ; yielding, in this shape, to the manufacturer, 
a further profit of one hundred per cent., as his reward. 

It is found by experiment, that one acre of good land 
will yield a bale (or four hundred pounds) of cotton, 



90 



ready for the market ; and it is believed a similar amount 
of the short staple may be raised upon an acre of the 
western prairies. The calculation is as follows : Seven 
tons of the flax in stem are required for one of the short 
staple. At the rate, therefore, of one and a half ton 
(or 3,000 pounds) of the stem per acre, it will be found 
that each acre will produce four hundred and twenty- 
eight pounds of the short staple ; a fact, exhibiting con- 
clusively the future value of the prairies, should the 
culture of flax be generally adopted. 

In many portions of our country, especially in New 
Jersey and New York, flax is raised with reference to 
the seed alone, and the lint is thrown away. 

Mowing flax has been resorted to by many farmers, 
in preference to the tedious and expensive modes ot 
pulling, heretofore in use. This, however, is a process 
which always leaves the stem entangled and difficult to 
break, hi the new method of reducing flax to a fibre 
resembling cotton, it is believed that less care ingather- 
ing will be required ; especially if the '' brakes" are im- 
proved by the addition of transverse rollers, to crush the 
stem, in whatever position it may be presented. 

In this mode flax can be prepared at small expense 
for paper. Linen rags are high and scarce, and, al- 
though well worked and vrorn linen is supposed to be 
better than new flax, yet it is believed this preference 
will disappear by a careful preparation of the pulp. If 
flax is raised for the seed alone, and the crop proves 
good, what a vast amount of lint for paper can be easily 
obtained ! 

And here we cannot omit to mention that a new 
process of manufacturing paper from the fibre of beet 



91 



roots, and from com husks, will add much to the raw- 
material in general use. It is found that husks make 
an excellent and soft paper. The mode of bleaching 
them and separating the mucilage from the "lignin" or 
fibre, has been greatly improved. 

In no country could the manufocture of paper be 
carried on with greater profit than in the Upper 
Wabash, if substitutes can be procured for paper rags. 
No paper mills have been established there, while the 
demand for paper is extremely great. 

During the year ending on the 30th of September, 
1837, rags to the amount of 1^439,229 were imported 
to this country. These rags, when dusted, bleached, 
and reduced to pulp, must have lost about twenty-five 
per cent, in weight, making the cost of the base of 
good and even ordinary printing stock, nine cents per 
pound. 

It is believed that husks of maize or Indian corn, 
can be selected clean by the farmer, baled, and sent 
any reasonable distance, for one cent per pound. They 
are bulky, of but little value as food for animals, and are 
generally wasted in the field. These husks, however, 
form an admirable base for paper, and their mucilaginous 
properties are easily extracted. It is found that the 
"lisrnin" or fibre constitutes about seven-eighths of its 
original ; or, in other words, the loss incurred by the 
separation is only one-eighth. 

No difficulty attends the process of bleaching this 
fibre ; but, owing to the strange action of the chloride 
of lime upon it, (the same as in the case of linen rags,) 
the loss is greater in lignin and coloring matter, than 
in mucilage. By the ordinary methods, the loss sus- 



92 



tained in the preparation of husks for paper, would 
equal fiv^e eighths of the whole quantity selected from 
the field ; while, by the new process, the cost of the 
material, after maceration, waste, and bleaching, may 
be estimated at three cents per pound. It is believed, 
therefore, that as good a base for paper can be mads 
for four cents, as is now furnished for nine cents per 
pound. It is said that the '• lignin" of corn husks, is 
even whiter than that of flax, unless the same has 
been much worn or washed.* 

Printing paper is, undoubtedly, the most profitable 
paper made, as it sells readily from ten to fifteen cents 
per pound. Indeed, there can be no question of the 
great profit which attends the manufacture of this 
article, even on a moderate scale. 

How easy would it be for enterprising capUalists to 
improve some of the fine hydraulic power at Lafayette, 
in manufactures of this kind ; and, while reaping a rich 
recompense for all their trouble, to remove one of the 
great embarrassments now experienced by printers. 

* Those who wish more ample informalion in regard to the new 
process mentioned, are referred to the inventor, Mr. Homer Holland, 
of Westlickl, Massachusetts. 



93 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Manufacture of beet sugar. Broom corn. Tobacco. Hemp. Corn 
stalks as fodder. Cultivytion of the sun flower. Breaking prairie. 
Common and standard weight of grain. Recapitulation of the ma- 
chines referred to in this work. 

Many of the estimates presented in the foregoing 
chapters, have been made with reference to the cultiva- 
tion of some single product, and its after exportation to 
the markets of the eastern or the southern Slates. They 
may, therefore, be found to involve expenditures at the 
commencement, beyond the means of any but the richer 
class of farmers. But for the enterprising settler, whose 
resources are more moderate, far less capital is needed. 
His great objects are to secure a comfortable home ; to 
provide subsistence for his family, and to reach, by a 
rapid advancement, the field of more extended and en- 
riching operations. To him these estimates are valua- 
ble, as exhibiting the great fertility of the soil, and placing 
before him many of the products best adapted to it. He 
can reduce and divide these at his pleasure, to suit the 
operations of the first few years. During these years, if 
successful, and with prudence he will be so, he should 
find himself remunerated for the whole expense he has 
incurred, and able, by the overplus remaining, to increase 
his farm. He can then reap the full benefit of those 
more lucrative pursuits we have enumerated. Such 
has been the fortune of many, well known to the writer, 
who, emigrating to the western country a few years ago, 
have risen to be men of wealth, and of extended influ- 
ence; such, too, will be the success of those who follow 
their example. 

But, to continue the train of our remarks in the pre- 
ceding pages, there are various other products, well 



94 



adapted to the soil of the prairies which demand a pas- 
sing notice. 

The cnhivation of the sugar beet, has of hite attracted 
much attention, not alone in this but other countries. 

This beet is raised — 

1. As a vegetable for the table, and food for cattle ; and 

2. To be manufactured into sugar. 

In reference to the first purpose mentioned, the fol- 
lowing short extract from a letter furnished by Edward 
P. Roberts, Esq., to the Agricultural Committee of Con- 
gress during the late session, gives the following infor- 
mation. 

"The sugar beet I have successfully cultivated, not 
with a view of sugar making, but as a vegetable for my 
table, and as food for my cattle; and I feel justified from 
my experience in saying, that of all the varieties of the 
beet family it is the hest^ for the first purpose, being, from 
the great quantity of saccharine matter it contains, and the 
total absence of that earthy flavor peculiar to most beets, 
infinitely more acceptable to the generality of palates 
than any other. Indeed, as a table beet, so superior 
is it, that I should never think of growing any 
others. As food for cattle and hogs, when the acre- 
able product of nutritive matter is taken into account, 
I believe it will be found to afford as much, if not more, 
substantial food than any other of the beet family ; 
and I am very certain there is no other kind that such 
animals eat with more avidity, or on which they thrive 
better. For milch cows, when fed through the winter, 
in the proportion of from half a bushel to a bushel per 
da,y, (in addition to their usual allowance of fodder oi 
hay,) I know of no food that I think equal to them 



95 



From their succulence, and tlie great quantity of sac- 
charine matter they contain, they not only tend to in- 
crease the secretion of milk, but add immensely to 
its richness, and consequently to the quantity and 
quality of the cream. Cows thus treated will be 
kept in e;ood condition, and generously contribute 
towards the emolument of the dairy. Horses, too, 
with the addition of a small portion of meal of any 
kind, or some one of the mill stuffs, may be kept well 
through the winter at work on three pecks a day. 
To render them acceptable to these latter animals, at 
first, salt should be freely sprinkled over them ; by pur- 
suing this course for a short time, they will become fond 
of their flavor, and eat them with readiness." 

The white Silesian beet is generally esteemed the 
best for planting. The product of the sugar beet is 
variously estimated from 1,000 to 1,500 bushels per 
acre. Some have even maintained that on good 
land, and under a system of generous cultivation, 
upwards of 2,000 bushels could be raised per acre. 
Assuming, however, 1,000 bushels as the acreable 
product, and allowing 40 pounds to the bushel, we 
shall have a yield of 40,000 pounds per acre. This 
1] umber of pounds, though adjudged too small by 
many, is the one given by Mr. Pedder as ihe result 
of extensive investigation in the manufactures and 
sugar beet plantations of France. For the mere 
purpose of feeding stock, these beets are worth about 
thirty cents per bushel, giving, even at this low 
estimate, the sum of ^300 per acre. Deducting the 
whole cost of cultivation, which may be placed at 
fifty dollars, though in general half that sum would 



96 

be sufficient, we have remaining $'250 profit on the 

acre. 

A still greater diversity of opinion exists as to the 

per cent, of sugar which the beet will yield. The 

estimates vary from four to eight per cent. Mr. 

Pedder, assuming six per cent, as the medium, and 

40.000 pounds per acre as the product of the roots, 

gives the following result : 

Sugar, first and second quality 2,400 
Molasses, two per cent - 800 

Cake, fifteen per cent - 6,000 



0,200 lbs. per acre. 



Another estimate, given by M. Iznard, Esq., the 
French Vice Consul at Boston, gives four tons of pomice 
or cake, and one ton of leaves, for manure, as remain- 
ing after the preparation of the first and second qualities 
of sugar. 

From the above estimates, it will be seen that, in ad- 
dition to 3,200 pounds of sugar and molasses produced 
from an acre, there will also remain about 8,000 pounds 
of cake, which (owing to the extraction by pressure of the 
water contained in the original roots) are more valuable 
as food for cattle, than the same amount of beets, fed 
directly from the field. 

Of the profits to be derived from the manufacture of 
beet sugar, on an extended scale, there can be no ques- 
tion. Ample information on this point has been obtained 
from details of the income and expenditures of the 
French manufactories. 

It has, however, been too generally thought, that 



97 



large establishments alone could derive much profit from 
the manufocture of this article. Numerous instances, 
however, could be produced, where the process of 
making sugar has been carried on in a small compass, 
and as a domestic concern, with great advantage. Small 
beet sugar manufactories could be established on farms ; 
and from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds 
of sugar manufiictured daily, with no other assistance 
than that given by the inmates of the house. " When 
stripped of mystification, (we quote from the pages of 
the Cultivator.) the process of making beet sugar has 
little in it more diflicult than tlie process of making 
maple sugar. It consists in extracting the juice of 
the beet, purifying it, and boiling it down to a proper 
consistence to granulate. All the care and particularity 
recommended in the manufacture of beet sugar, might, 
no doubt, be applied advantageously to the making of 
maple sugar. The purification of the juice, and the 
reducing it to sugar, are managed on like prhiciples, 
though the processes of purifying vary. The juice of the 
beet contains coloring and other foreign matters, which 
it is necessary to get rid of; and this is done, and the 
liquor rendered limpid, by the application of lime and 
animal charcoal." 

Now beets can be grown, gathered, and washed by 
the laborers on a farm ; they can be reduced by them to 
pulp, in a grater cider mill, and the juice can also be 
expressed by them in a common cider press. The 
purifying process is easily learned and practised by the 
inmates of a family, as are the processes of boiling down 
and sugaring off". A thermometer and esreometer are 
useful m managing the processes with certainty and 
7 



98 



economy. They would be equally useful in the pro- 
cess of making maple sugar^ and the thermometer in the 
business of making butter and cheese. The cost of l)Oth 
will not exceed three dollars. One serves to determine 
temperature, and the other specific gravity ; and in five 
minutes the principles of either may be explained to a 
novice. What, then, we ask, is to hinder the farmer 
from raising the beet and extracting from it, when the 
labors of the summer relax, or are completed, the sugar 
necessary for the consnmption of his family, or for 
market, with as little expense and as much certainty as 
he produces it from his sugar grove ?" 

Before closing that portion of our volume which 
relates to the comparative advantages of different grains, 
there are others which demand a passing notice. 
These, with various matters of importance, we shall 
mention concisely under their appropriate titles. 

Broom Corn. — The cultivation of the common 
broom corn is attended with no small profit to the 
farmer. All the information relative to its culture 
and products may be presented under a few heads : 

1. The quantity of seed required per acre varies from 
four to five quarts, according to the mode of planting 
in hills or drills ; and should be sowed as early as the 
season will admit, and secure the seed from frost. 

2. The product of the brush is from 600 to ];000 
pounds per acre. 

3. The seed is worth as much for food as oats, and 
is excellent for stock, especially for running hogs. 

4. The expense of manufacturing brooms varies 
from five to ten cents each, including all materials. 

5. The product of seed is from sixty to one hundred 
bushels per acre. 



99 



6. The brush is sold by the pound, and is generally 
packed in bundles bound together by two stalks. 

7. This corn should be planted thicker on very rich 
soil than else\yhere, or the brush will be too coarse for 
the manufacture of fine brooms. 

Assuming that the product of seed is eighty bushels 
per ac-rCj and the value that of oats, (say thirty cents 
per bushel.) we have from this source an income of $24 
from each acre. To this should be added 800 pounds 
of brush, at nine cents per pound, making the whole 
income about .$100 to each acre. The manufacture of 
the brush into brooms, which will sell ready at 25 cents 
apiece, would furnish agreeable employment to the 
families of farmers during long winter evenings, or 
other leisure hours. 

Tobacco. — This is another article well adapted to 
the soil of the prairies, and extensively cultivated in 
some parts of Indiana. It is a useful product to 
cultivate, as the Jirst crop, on lands where wheat cannot 
be introduced at once, owing to the extreme richness of 
the soil. On fertile land, four plants will often yield 
two pounds of tobacco, and the careful cultivation of 
from 4,000 to 5,000 plants per season is sufficient labor 
for one person. As the tobacco plant produces no 
manure, and is rapidly exhausting to the soil, it is not 
adapted to poor land. 

Hemp. — The suggestions heretofore made in regard 
to flax, will apply with Ittl e variation to the culture of 
hemp, an article which is raised extensively throughout 
the western States. From four to five hundred weio-ht 
may be regarded as the produce of hemp in fibre, and 
from ten to twelve bushels in seed per acre. 



100 



Corn stalks as fodder. — It is much to be re- 
gretted that the value of corn-stalks, as fodder, is so 
generally overlooked by many farmers. In the Farm- 
err, and Gardener's Magazine, (a valuable agricuhural 
periodical,) will be found an account of eight acres of 
corn, which, after producing from thirty-five to forty 
bushels of corn per acre, furnished a sufficient quantity 
of stalks (when steamed) to keep ten milch cows, 
three horses, and one young heifer, in good order, 
for five months. Horses, too, are found to thrive 
exceedingly well upon this fodder. Even that portion 
which remains standing after topping corn is worth 
more for stock, if properly used, than a crop of clover 
which the same ground v/ould produce. The same 
quantity of food would keep sixteen head of large 
cattle during the same time. 

In the valley of the Wabash, where the winters sel- 
dom exceed three months, a like quantity of stalks 
■would keep comfortably twenty-two head of cattle 
during feeding time. The calculation, as first given, 
is based upon the produce of forty bushels to the acre ; 
to which one-third more (amounting in all to sixty 
bushels) should be added for an average crop on the 
Wabash. We shall find, therefore, that eight acres of 
stalks there, well gathered, cut small, steamed, and 
fed, would keep thirty head of cattle through a winter 
of three months, at the rate of three and three-quarters 
liead per acre. How large an amount of stock could, 
in this way, be sustained from a section of six hundred 
and forty acres ! If, for the more common kind, the 
Baden corn is substituted, averaging four ears upon a 
stalk, with corresponding stem and Inisks, a further 
benefit might be expected. 



101 



Sun Flower. — This valuable plant has been 
greatly neglected, from a belief of the exhausting 
nature of the crop. If the profits are such as repre- 
santed, the objection abovementioned will have little 
weight with proprietors of fertile lands along the Wabash. 
The following extract of a letter to the Hon. H. L. 
Ellsworth, from James Smith, Esq., of Pikesville, 
Maryland, shows what has been done on the compara- 
tively poor lands of that State : 

" I planted about an acre of ground a few years 
since with sun flower, and obtained sufficient seed for 
nearly a barrel of oil. The oil was extracted by Mr. 
Barnett. We made use of it for the ttxWe, and found 
it kept well, and was esteemed equal to the best 
imported sweet oil for every domestic purpose. 1 
have a little of this making (1833) yet remaining, and 
will send you a bottle if I can find an opportunity. 
I found the substance of the sun f!ower was too 
exhaustinof for the lia:ht soil we have on our hills in 
this neighborhood, but have no doubt it will be found 
profitable in other sections of our country, and particu- 
larly in the rich prairies of the west." 

The residuum or oil cake must be highly beneficial 
for stock. Few plants are more hardy ; indeed, in 
many climates, the sun flower seeds itself Such we 
have noticed to be the fact in gardens in the City of 
Washington. 

Breaking Prairie. — We should have added, in a 
previous chapter, that considerable of the expense wliich 
attends the breaking up of prairie, would be lessened, by 
the increased value of young cattle, taught to work 
during the process. Two old and v/ell trained yokes, one 



102 



before and the other at ilic plough, with four or five 
couple of young steers in the middle, constitute a 
most efficient team. An advance on each yoke of 
steers, may be obtained on the completion of the 
work, of from fifteen to twenty dollars. Various 
contrivances of this kind for diminishing liis expenses, 
will occur to the enterprising settler. Indeed, the 
ditference of cost between hired labor and that which 
he performs himself, is always great, and should be 
recollected by the farmer. 

Weight of Grain. — For the purpose of enabling 
our readers to make comparisons and calculations 
at their leisure, we annex the following table of the 
common and standard weights of grain from the 
Agricultural Chemistry of Sir H. Davy: 





Common iceigld per bushel. 


Standard veight. 


Wheal, 


from 58 to 64 lbs. 


60 lb.s. 


Rye, 


49 to 56 


56 


Barley, 


48 to 56 


48 


Oats, 


30 to 42 


32 


Indian corn. 


54 to 62 


56 



And the grain of each of these species produces, 
when ripe, the following quantity of flour and bread 
per bushel : 



Wheat, if weighing, 60 lb.s.- 


-of flour, 48 lbs. 


—of bread, 64 Ik's. 


Rye, do. 54 


do. 42 


do. 56 


Barley, do. 48 


do. 3Ti 


do. 50 


Oats, do. 40 


do 22i 


do. 30 



The following list presents in a short compass the 
cost and advantages of the various machines referred 
to in this work. They have been mentioned partlj'- 
on account of the aid they render in all farming 
operations, and because most of them have been 



103 



used, or ordered for that purpose, by the writer in the 
vicinity of Lafayette. 

1. Glime's Double Plough. — The invention of Mr. 
Samuel CHme, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania. This 
machine costs $16, is drawn by two horses, and will 
plough five acres daily. One man can manage this 
with the same ease as an ordinary plough. With a 
powerful team, several of these ploughs could be united, 
and would cover seed wheat, obviating the necessity 
of harrowing. Two ploughs could be arranged to 
follow each other in the same furrow, when breaking 
prairie ; the first one to cut the green sward two or 
three inches deep, and the second to enter the soft dirt, 
and throw it directly on the top of the inverted sod. In 
this way the sod crop has a fine soil to sustain it, the 
want of whicii is much felt, where the sward is hard, 
and the summer dry. 

2. Hatch's Sowing Machine. — The invention of 
Mr. Julius Hatch, Great Bend, Pennsylvania. This 
machine costs ^25, and will sow each kind of seed bjr 
graduating the gauges to its size, and scatters the same 
equally. It is drawn by one horse, the driver riding on 
a comfortable seat. From twenty-five to thirty acres 
can be sown daily, by changing horses, though less is 
usually done. 

3. Hussey's Reaping Machine. — The invention of 
Mr. Obed Hussey, of Cambridge, Maryland. This 
machine costs |^150, is generally drawn by two horses, 
and cuts of grain or grass from twelve to twenty acres 
per day. Tlie teeth operate upon the principle of 
shears, and need sharpening but onc3 or twice during 
the season. If this machine is applied to heavy grain, 



104 



three horses may be employed with advantage. Two 
men are needed in cutting grass ; but more in cutting 
grain, where the same is bound, 

4. Eoot's Raking Machine. — The patent is now 
owned by J. H. Ross, of Olean, New York. This rake 
costs $15. It is designed to be attached to two com- 
mon wheels. The person who guides it rides, and 
elevates the rake when filled without stopping the horse. 
This rake is a good gleaner of wheat fields, and will, 
with the help of a boy and man, perform the daily labor 
of ten men. 

5. Brittain's Flax Puller. — The invention of Mr. 
William Brittain, of New Hope, Pennsylvania. This 
machine costs ,^'35, is drawn by one horse, and pulls 
from four to five acres daily. With a powerful team, 
two of the machines can be united, and a corresponding 
increase of work insured. 

6. Brittain's Flax-breaking Machine. — Same 
inventor as before. This machine costs $300, and will 
break 3,000 pounds of stem, when rotted, daily. The 
whole expense attending the breaking this amount is 
four dollars and fifty cents, including the wages of one 
man, four boys, and coal needed for the machine : or it 
may be estimated at the rate of .$3 per each two thou- 
sand pounds. The quantity broke daily makes 1 ,000 
pounds of dressed flax. The usual price of rotted flax, 
ready for the break, is $15 per ton ; of unrotted, $12. 

7. Hussey's Corn-shelling Machine. — The in- 
vention of Mr. Obed Hussey, of Cambridge, Maryland. 
This machine costs $30, and performs the double 
operation of husking and shelling at the same time. It 
is also immaterial in what position the corn is presented. 



105 



In this machine fifty bushels of dry harvested corn can 
be husked and shelled per hour, or five hundred bushels 
in ten hours. 

8. Buckminster's Planter. — The invention of Mr. 
William Buckminster, of Framingham, Massachusetts. 
This machine costs $15, and is made wholly of cast 
iron. It is adapted to all seeds that are planted in hills, 
and plants one, two, or three rows at a time. Twenty- 
five acres is the usual quantity per day. 

9. Raymond's Sbingle Machine. — The invention of 
Mr. J. S. Raymond, of Lodi, New York. This machine 
costs $100, and works with a revolving knife, cutting 
shingles from blocks previously softened by steam. It 
cuts 4,000 shingles per hour, and can be worked by 
horses, though steam or water power are best adapted to 
its full success. 

10. Garnett's Cultivator. — The invention of Mr. 
J. M. Garnett, of Essex county, Virginia. This machine 
costs S6, has been lately much improved in construction. 
and equals the work done by any other similar con- 
trivance. It is drawn by one horse, and will perform 
the labor of four ploughs. 

11. Fay's Tenoning Machine. — The invention of 
Mr. .Tosiah Fay, of Baltimore, Maryland. This machine 
costs ^lOOj and does the work of from ten to fifteen men, 
with great accuracy. 

12. Woodside's Scarafier and Harrow. — This 
machine costs 0150, and is highly recommended. Jt 
was lost while on its way to Indiana, by the burning of 
the Ben Sherrod, and has not been tried by the writer. 

13. Page's Mortising Machine. — The invention 
of Mr. G. Page, of Baltimore, Maryland. This 



106 



machine costs, according to the size, from $50 to 
$175; is worked by hand, and docs the labor of ten 
men. 

14. Page's Ditching Machine. — This is not 
yet patented. It will cost $500. and cuts forty rods 
of ditch per day, making a handsome embankment 
at the same time. It is worked by a single horse, 
■and can he hired at $2 50 per day. This ma- 
chine has not yet been ordered by the writer, as 
no patent is obtained. Further statements in regard 
to it will be found in the Appendix. 

15. Page's Planing Machine. — The irons, arbors, 
and gearing of this machine cost $75, and the wooden 
frame as much more ; ^150 for the whole. It is 
intended more especially for jointing and planing 
square lumber or short boards, but will, with trifling- 
alterations, plane boards twenty feet long. It performs 
the labor of from twelve to fifteen men. 

16. Page's Grooving Machine. — This machine 
costs $15, and the groove is cut by small pieces of 
steel put upon an arbor, like circular saws, and 
running with the velocity of two thousand revolutions 
per minute, A small tongue is cut from a board of 
suitable thickness by a circular saw. It performs the 
labor of fifteen men. 

17. Page's Post-hole Augur. — This machine 
costs $10, with a set of extra cutters. It bores a hole 
nine inches in dia.meter and three feet deep in two 
minutes. In hard clay (such as would require a 
pick-axe) five minutes are allowed. 

18. To these may be added a machine for making 
holes in posts and sharpening rails. It does the work 



107 



of eight or ten men, and saves more than one- 
half the rails now used in " Virginia or worm 
fences." This saving, where lumber is scarce, is an 
important item. Posts, with a single rail, are well 
adapted to the new embankment made by ditching, 
and will aid in perfecting the enclosure until the hedge 
is fully grown. 

These machines not only save a vast amount of 
labor, but they often do so where labor could not be 
obtained at any price. From this advantage they 
seem entitled to the name of new created powers. By 
their use much can be accomplished ; without them, 
often, nothing can be done. 

A variety of machines for ditching, mowing by horse 
power, and ploughing by steam, will doubtless soon be 
patented. 

The present machinist of the Patent Office is per- 
fectins: a machine for cuttinsf o-rain and ffrass, which 
promises to be highly useful. No patent has been 
obtained for it, nor indeed can be, until his legal dis- 
ability (as a member of the office) to take out a patent 
is removed. The principle of this machine somewhat 
resembles Mr. Hussey's ; both cut by vibrating shears. 



108 



CHAPTER IX. 



The hour of! thegjeniigrant's departure. The true condition of ths 
country he has chosen. Its intellectual and moral situadon. Its 
general healtli. The errors of the emigrant often the true cause 
of all his sul^ering. The course to be adopted to remove these 

;^' evils. His advantages compared. 

The adventurer, who wanders from his childhood's 
home, to settle in another and a distant clime, goes forth 
attended by a host of warm affections from the many 
who remain. He bears with him a rich treasure of com- 
mingled hopes and fears ; prayers for his success, or 
apprehensions for his safety, as the heart-felt tribute of 
his early friends. To some, the hour of his departure 
brings a deep regret that they are not companions of his 
journey and the sharers of his joys; while, to others, 
'the home which he has chosen seems but Uitle better 
than an exile, and his lot as cue of sorrow and privations. 
In the bright imaginations of the one, he seems hastening 
to a region such as Hope could picture or a poet paint; 
while the dark forebodings of the other have consigned 
him to a moral desert and a comfortless abode. 

But the true condition of the emigrant is not found in 
such extremes. Animated widi a just desire to attain 
an honorable independence, he is hastening to a land 
of brighter prospects than the one he leaves ; to a scene 
of more immediate usefulness and action, and a home 
in which contentment will secure his happiness. In the 
exchange of residence he makes, no better feeling, of 
his heart has suffered. He lias trampled down no 
principle that would lead to virtuous action, or crushed 
any of those finer and deeply hidden sensibilities which 
adorn our nature. The memory of those whom he has 
left, lives still green within his soul. Separated, as he is. 



109 



by distance; he gathers to his bosom a fond group of 
treasured recollections, and lingers, though it be in 
fancy, around each cherished haunt of by-gone years. 
In his hours of deepest sadness — and, alas ! who has 
them not? — will his heart go back to the home of other 
days, and the tender consolations that await him there. 
And while losing nothing, he has gained by the exchange. 
Under the operation of new motives, he is acting with 
an energy of character hitherto unknown, and rapidly 
reaching a position which it would have cost him 
years of effort elsewhere to attain. He is learning 
to depend upon himself; to feel that there is much for 
him to do, and that his efforts may contribute to the 
general good ; not alone of those with whom he is 
connected, but of the community in which he lives, and. 
again, of the whole world. 

We have indulged in these remarks, because we know 
that there are many who regard the situation of the 
western emigrant, especially if he is young, as a fearful 
exchange of comfort, principle, and health, for the 
deceptive prospect of accumulated gain. To their 
indistinct conceptions of his real sitnation, dangers the 
most appalling seem to lurk around his path. They 
believe that he has placed himself beyond the restraining 
influence of well-organized society, and afar from moral 
motives that might regulate his conduct. And more 
happy would they be, though lamenting all these evils, 
did they feel that his personal enjoyments w^ere not 
diminished, or his health enfeebled, by much hardship 
and exposure. 

That those should feel thus apprehensive who know 
not the rapid settlement and actual condition of the 



110 



western States, excites in us no wonder. It is hard, 
indeed, to realize, that hundreds of miles beyond the 
shores of the Atlantic may be found a mighty and a 
prosperous people, whose birth and existence lie within 
the compass of a few short years, and whose count- 
less villages or crowded cities have arisen, as it were 
by magic, from the solitude of ancient forests, bearing 
witness to an energy of action that is bound by no 
control. And more startling still is the conviction, that 
this new and prosperous people, strengthened by the 
daily advent of thousands of the young, the enterprising, 
and deserving from all quarters of the world, is rnpidly 
concentrating within its borders, not alone the wealth, 
but the controlling power of this vast Union ! 

The diffusion of knowledge and the preservation of 
good morals have ever been the objects of the wise 
and virtuous throughout all asfes. 

And what, for the accomplishment of these great ends, 
has been done, or is now doing, in the western States? 
Let facts answer the inquiry. Examine the munificent 
provisions of Michigan, appropriating for a university 
alone one million dollars, and five millions for a school 
fund. Look at Indiana, with five chartered collesfes 
within her borders ; with schools and seminaries in 
almost each long-settled county, and a generous appro- 
priation of one section in each township for the 
purposes of education. Enter the medical, legal, and 
theological institutions of Cincinnati, the young Athens 
of the west. Test by the severest standards the acquire- 
ments of those who annually leave their walls, to scatter 
widely the rich treasures they have gained. Visit the 
older universities of Kentucky, with their extended 



Ill 



libraries and richly endowed professorships. Go within 
the Halls of Legislation throughout these different 
States, and behold the efforts of the friends of education 
to advance its interests, and the favorable notice which 
they gain. Listen to the animating discussions that 
are weekly carried on in the lycea even of the smaller 
towns. From thence go out among the people of these 
States. View the ardent thirst for knowledge that is 
everywhere exhibited, and their general intelligence on 
matters of political importance, no less than others. 

And when these investigations are concluded, enter 
the numerous churches of the crowded cities ; witness 
the throngs that assemble in them on the Sabbath, and 
their devout appearance ; listen to the sound exposi- 
tions of doctrine, and the eloquent appeals to feeling 
that issue from the lips of the Minister of God. Attend 
the Sabbath schools of each denomination, and view 
the correct deportment of the young of both sexes 
there assembled. And, again, travel these States in 
all directions, to be gladdened by the same testimonials 
of regard for religion and morality. Scarce one town 
can there be found but has some place of public wor- 
ship, whose pulpit is statedly supplied, and where assem- 
ble many, often from a long and tedious distance, to 
manifest respect to these most sacred institutions. 

The question should be rather, what, considering the 
brief period of their existence, is there that the western 
States have not done to establish and advance the 
cause of knowledge and morality. The individuals 
who compose the population of these States are not 
the idle, the dissipated, and the vicious ; they are the 
active, the sober, and the honest. Collected, as they 



112 



are, from different portions of the Union, and from 
various quarters of the world, it is singular with what 
readiness they have consolidated into one extended 
brotherhood ; presenlino: the elements of a character, 
which, when time shall have fashioned and fitted it 
together, will be found without a rival in the history of 
man. 

The privations to which the emigrant must be 
subjected, after all, are few, and none but what an 
enterprising spirit will endure without complaint. He 
will be welcomed to his new abode by hearts as 
generous as have ever beat, and by friends who will 
continue such as long as he deserves their confidence. 
Humanity and kindness are eminently the characteris- 
tics of the western settler. The trials to which he has 
been exposed have taught him to relieve the wants 
of others, and he does it with a noble disregard of his 
own selfish interest. The stranger, whoever he may 
be, is invited to his hospitable dwelling, cherished as 
a friend while there, and parted from with a reluctance 
which is never feigned. His return, if it occurs, is 
welcomed with enthusiasm, and the tie thus formed 
in these few hours' of intercourse is kept unbroken, 
amid the changes and vicissitudes of life. What is it 
to the emigrant, surrounded by the stirring scenes of 
western life, that he does not hourly meet the studied 
graces of the fashionable world ? He knows that the 
friendship of one honest heart is better than the cold 
reo-ards of thousands. To him, it niatters little that 
the leaves of the forest are sometimes his couch, and 
the canopy of Heaven his only covering. Privations, 
such as these, he feels will ere long disappear, and 



113 



leave him the resident of a delightful region, where life 
is enjoyed in its freshest and most winning forms; 
and where nature smiles arrayed in her most gorgeous 
colorings ! 

There remains another subject of no small importance 
to the western emigrant — the AeaM of the new country 
he has chosen as his residence. And here we must 
inform him, at the outset, that experience has taught us 
to regard the many apprehensions on this great point, 
as almost wholly idle and unfounded. We believe that, 
with the exercise of ordinary care and prudence, and 
the blessing of Providence attending his exertions, the 
emigrant may enjoy as perfect and uninterrupted health 
throughout the western States as elsewhere. These 
States, like those of older origin, are not exempted from 
diseases; but that, in addition to this, they contain a 
permanent and fruitful source of ill health within their 
borders, we cannot admit. Tiiere is nothing in their 
geographical position, in their climate, or in facts, to 
warrant such conclusions. 

We are no believers in the necessity of undergoing a 
tedious process of acclimation, when removing to this 
country. It is true, that the fatigues of travelling, con- 
nected with a change of diet, and considerable exposure, 
may produce a short indisposition ; and where would 
these causes not do so ? It is also true, that the settler, 
who exposes for the first time to the action of the sun 
a luxuriant soil, on whose surface large deposites of vege- 
table matter have decayed, generates around himself an 
atmosphere, in general, injurious to his health. But go 
to the older settled portions of these States, where 
causes such as these have long since disappeared, and 
8 



114 



they will not suffer by comparison with almost any 
portion of our country. The State of Indiana, for 
example, is more healthy at this moment than western 
New York was a few years ago ; and where, throughout 
the western country, can be found a region so regularly 
visited by disease as portions of the eastern shore of 
Maryland? Look at the former and present condition 
of Rochester, and other towns along that great thorough- 
fare, the Erie canal! Many of the disorders of the 
western States are those incident alone to a new country, 
and are gradually disappearing before the march of 
civilization and improvement. 

But, again, in a majority of cases, the imprudent 
conduct of the settler is the cause of his diseases. No 
one who has witnessed the course pursued by many 
families, on their first arrival at their new home, could 
hesitate to believe, that to their own reckless braving of 
exposure must be attributed much of the suffering 
which they endure. It happens often, that the land 
which the emigrant has selected is unprovided with 
any tenement for his abode. To remedy this evil he 
removes at once to its vicinity. Spreading a temporary 
tent for the poor accommodation of his family, he com- 
mences the erection of a rude log cabin. After the 
severe toil of the day, he throws himself upon the damp 
ground, exposed to all the changes of the weather, and 
arises each successive morning to pursue the same 
imprudence. His own hardy constitution may at first 
resist the evils to which he is subjected, and possibly 
enable him to gain his object with his health uninju- 
red. But he has those with him who are not thus 
vigorous. A few days pass away, and symptoms of ill 



115 



health surround him. Kegarding these as hardly worth 
attention, he faithfully continues at his labor. The 
frame of his coarse habitation is completed ; a rough 
and open roof is placed upon it ; the walls are daubed 
with mud, to protect him from the storm or the changes 
of the weather ; and he enters his new dwelling, calcu- 
lating to increase his comforts at his leisure. To the 
flattering hopes of the settler, the evils which he 
dreaded at the commencement of his journey are over ; 
and he settles down in foncied security, to dream of 
adding yearly to the land he now possesses, and of ri- 
valling his neighbor in influence and wealth. But, 
from these fond reveries he is soon aroused to feel that 
all is not so prosperous and certain as it seemed. 
Weakened by hardships and exposure, one after another 
of his family sicken, and even if their lives are spared, 
remain for a long time enfeebled. Wearied out with 
watching and anxiety, he, too, becomes unwell, and in 
consequence disheartened. And who now, but himself, 
has the emigrant to blame for these misfortunes? Why, 
in his rashness, has he thus braved an exposure, in anew 
land, to evils which in no country and in no condition 
could he hope to pass through with impunity 7 

The attention of the western emigrant must be turned 
to this great matter. He must be made to feel that 
health, no less than riches, depend on prudence and 
exertion to secure their blessings. Much, nay all, of the 
suffering we have described, it is reasonable to suppose 
he may avoid. Others, with more care and foresight, 
have passed by these dangers, whose circumstances were 
at first no brig^hter than his own. Let his dwellin2; be 
erected before his family is removed to the spot which 



116 



he has purchased ; and let it, too, be one neat in its 
appearance, and sufficiently spacious to contain its 
inmates. It is better to possess but half the land he 
wishes, and be the owner of a comfortable duelling-, than 
to suffer his desire of wealth to lead him to the sad con- 
dition we have mentioned. It is better to expend his all 
at the commencement, than to keep it to be drained by 
the demands of suffering and sickness. 

It is, indeed, much to be regretted that many in the 
western States, whose means are ample, pay so slight 
attention to these most important matters. Trifling as 
they seem at first, they involve much of the comfort 
and happiness of those who may neglect them. The 
greater sickness that prevails in the country, than the 
towns, may be attributed, in no small degree, to the 
uncomfortable habitations scattered throughout the 
former. Decayed wood, no less than decayed vegetation, 
may be fruitful sources of disease ; and yet how often is 
the former found, not only around but in the dwellings 
of the western farmer ! And how easy is the substitution 
of tenements neatly constructed of clean boards and 
proper timber, with the Anther addition of paint or 
whitewash, for many of the present rude and coarse log 
cabins !* 

Let the emigrant consider, then, how much depends 
upon his own exertions. Let his course be marked with 
prudence, care, and diligence. If disappointments come 
upon him, let there not be added the reproach that his 



* Another source of much ill health will be removed by the sub- 
stitution of wells for running brooks, whose waters are so often 
charged with ihe noxious qualities of the different soils through 
which they pass. 



117 



own conduct has deserved them. With the blessing of 
Heaven upon his exertions, he may soon reap the 
reward of every labor ; but he also should remember, 
that the brightest earthly prospects may be overcloud- 
ed, or the darling hopes he cherisiies be blasted in a 
moment. Sorrow, sickness, and death, await him, 
wherever he may be. Let him, then, so live and act, 
that when he is called, to part from the scene of his 
earthly labors, he may leave behind the record of a life 
spent in the advancement of the welfare of his fellow- 
men. 

What now is the situationof the happy and successful 
emigrant, compared with that of many who remain 
behind'.^ In the midst of all the trials he is called on to 
endure, and the slight privations he will undergo, are his 
hopes less bright than theirs, or are his joys less perfect? 
Has he nothing to console him for the home he left, in 
the new endearments of another ; in the extended 
sphere of action and of usefulness around him ; in the 
animating prospect of accumulating wealth ; and the 
knowledge, that upon himself depends the height of 
that position which he may attain ? Let him revisit 
the land from which lie has departed ; the friends and 
companions of his early days. How many does he 
find who have risen to be men of wealth, influence, and 
distinction, or whose advancement has been aught but 
an increase of years ? 

Gloomy, indeed, is the condition of many in the elder 
States of our Republic, who, in the midst of each 
advantage which society can give, and mocked by 
the tempting glitter of surrounding riches, are yet 
struggling in the iron grasp of poverty, disheartened by 



118 



the past, and despairing of the future. Enter, in the 
crowded cities of the east, the numberless abodes of 
suffering and want ! Gaze upon the utter wretchedness 
of those whose unremitting labor can secure but the 
bare morsel that supports existence ! View the coffers of 
each charitable institution, drained by the demands of 
thousands who implore its aid ! Witness, in all directions, 
the fruitless efforts of the young, the active, and deserv- 
ing, while fulfilling the requirements of the stations 
they may hold, to provide for coming hours of sickness 
or old age ! Read the heart-stirring petitions of those 
who, laboring honestly in behalf of this great nation, 
are scarce able to obtain subsistence for themselves and 
those dependent on them ; whose constitutions are 
enfeebled by incessant toil, and whose hopes of retaining 
their present situations may be blasted in a moment ! 
Behold all these, nor wonder that, while there is a 
land of promise, and a home of brighter prospects, 
thousands, led by their allurements, should depart to 
seek their blessings ! 



119 



CHAPTER X. 



The effects resulting from the rapid means of intercourse between 
distant nations. The appearance uf America, as presented, for the 
first time, to the traveller. The cause of her origin. Her present 
situation and prospects. The vast emigration to her borders. 
Conclusion of the work. 

The darintr and inventive <^enius of the present 
age, aided by the experience of those which have 
preceded it, is ah'eady meeting, in many a brilhant 
result, the reward of its exertions, and apparently 
entering on a career of conquests illimitable in extent. 
Before its rapid march, the barriers of time and space 
have nearly fallen ! Empires, the most distant, have 
been thrown at once together ; interchanges of feelings 
and customs are producing the happiest results, and 
strengthening the animating hope, that the gradual 
extinction of many a long-treasured prejudice will end 
in the formation of an indissoluble union among the 
nations of the earth ! 

The traveller, who lingers but to- day around the 
gorgeous scenes of oriental fable, as he leaves them 
with their beauties still present in imagination, can 
but cast a hasty glance to the intervening splendor 
and treasured riches of more western empires, ere 
he finds himself surrounded by the forest solitudes, or 
beside the mighty rivers and the rising cities of a 
newly discovered world ! 

And, perhaps, of all the scenes which he has 
witnessed, neither the bewitching romance of the one, 
nor the startling magnificence of the other, will so 
arrest and rivet his attention as that now before him. 
He beholds a country embracing an endless variety of 



120 



soil and climate, rich in the scenery which it presents, 
and inexhaustible in its fertility. He beholds portions 
of this wide extended country traversed by mountains, 
inland seas, and rivers, separated from each other, 
and yet finding in the cause of separation the means 
of a re-union. He gazes upon a people, daring even 
to a recklessness of danger, and hurried forward by an 
energy which no circumstance can baffle, and no 
obstacle subdue — a people, the rapid increase of 
whose population is without a parallel, the happy and 
contented citizens of a Government differing in many 
an essential feature from more ancient empires of the 
world. 

And the philosophic traveller does more. He goes 
back amid the records of the past, to investigate the 
causes of that scene which thus excites his wonder. He 
perceives that there is much in the long history of man, 
which has pointed with prophetic vision to the present 
age ; that over tlie dark chaos of disorganized society, 
there has moved a power, like that of the creation, 
binding together its disjointed fragments into one vast 
whole, nor resting from its labor till that object was 
attained. The rise of this great nation has been 
sudden, and its progress rapid ; but tlie cause to which 
it owes its origin, lies far beyond the era of its birth, 
back in the " eldest memory of time." The story of 
this young republic is the last one of a vohime, which 
records upon its pages the successive rise and downfall 
of many a proud empire. Its discovery and settlement, 
we have ever been accustomed to rccjard as the result 
of a long series of experiments upon mankind, and the 
approaching termination of those protracted contests 



121 



between truth and error, liberty and oppression, which 
have fired the path of ages with the meteor light of 
revohitions, and scattered through the earth the rehcs 
of destroyed nations. We stand, as it were, upon the 
ruins of the past — the last fond hope of freedom. Driven 
from the old world, she has visited the new, to rear 
again the temple of her v/orship in a chosen home. 
Ours is the rich heritage which had else been lost. 
From the tombs of departed generations, comes the 
voice of admonition to our ears, warning us to keep in 
safety the rich treasure we have gained. 

There is much^too, in the present situation and pros- 
pects of this country, to encourage hope. From an 
origin so recent, in the providence of God she has 
arisen to become the pride of nations, and the envy of 
the world. The graves of her early founders, a little 
and a chosen band, are still green within our midst, 
while those who have succeeded to the blessings they 
obtained are a mighty people, known throughout the 
earth. The story of America, her struggles and success, 
has become the theme of thousands in remotest lands. 
To her they turn as the guardian of liberty and the 
home of the oppressed. And who, since such has been 
her birth and rapid elevation, feels not that a brighter 
prospect still remains. Who, gazing on America as 
she is, can tell the proud position that she may attain, 
when years shall have added to her beauty and her 
strength ; when from the shores of the Atlantic to those 
of the Pacific shall extend the cities of a people, bound 
together in the holy bands of brotherhood, the inhabit- 
ants of one vast Goverriment, and the defenders of one 
common hope ! Who shall say that the foundations of 



122 



her glory are not deeply laid, or that slie will not ere 
long ascend to a height of power and of dominion' 
hitherto unrivalled in the history of our race ! 

And of all the portions of this wide-spread country, 
none have arisen with the same rapidity of elevation, 
and as much of cheering promise as the western States. 
Theirs has been a growth and an extension, which no 
other age or clime has witnessed. The startled traveller, 
within their borders, seems surrounded by a region of 
enchanfment, whose invisible agents are as active and 
unlimited in their resources as the genii and faries of 
the ancient fable. Changes, the most striking, meet 
him at each turn ! He beholds the operation of an 
energy, whose exertions are followed by the immediate 
and full attainment of its object ; an energy that is ever 
busy in creating and again destroying the works of its 
creation, delighting, as it were, alone in the exertion of 
its powers. Forests sink before his path, and cities rise 
upon their ruins ; while, amid the solitude of nature, he 
beholds the new abodes of man, and listens to the voice 
of welcome and of gladness. 

There is much in the early history of these States, 
around which gathers a romantic interest. They have 
sprung up like the bright creations of an hour, amid the 
visions of a dream. Their earlv founders are now jione, 
but the recollection of their virtues will remain ; and 
when time shall have given up to fiction much that is 
now reality, poetry will go back to the scenes of their 
struggles, and the stories of their daring, as to the richest 
storehouse of its treasures. Nor will it go back to them 
alone. Before tlie rapid march of civilization, as wit- 
nessed there, is now retreating the miserable remnant of 



123 



a once proud people. The tear of compassion is well 
due to their sad fate ! Step by step has their broad 
empire been wrested from their grasp. Their council 
fires are extinguished ; the day of their glory has gone 
by ; and the hour of their destruction seems at hand ! 
They are at best a broken and despairing people. 
By the side of some forest stream, or along the borders 
of some deserted prairie, may be found a few solitary 
wanderers, who can only feel that, like the waters of 
the one, are departing their long-cherished hopes ; 
or, like the unbroken solitude of the other, is the fearful 
desolation of their hearts. Some may be seen still lin- 
gering around the graves of their departed warriors, as a 
last act of regard, ere they depart beyond the waters of 
the Mississippi, to a land humanity has prepared for their 
reception. But, alas ! humanity cannot restore to them 
the treasure they have lost. It may extend their miser- 
able life a little longer, or scatter a few comforts in their 
rugged path ; but the death-song of their nation will 
ere long be sung ! The seal of fate is set upon them ; 
and in a few short years the echo of some solitary paddle, 
or the shrill v^^hoop of some companionless Indian, will be 
all that remains of one great and mighty nation, removed, 
in the providence of God, for the introduction of 
another. 

Such are some of the reflections which occur while 
contemplating the origin and situation of a country, to 
which, more than any other, is directed the attention of 
the world. The friends and the enemies of freedom 
look to America as the last great field of conflict, Vv^here 
the destinies of Liberty must be decided. We, the 
favored inhabitants of a country such as this, may 



124 



neglect, in the day of our prosperity, t\ e high trust 
committed to our care. But there will be those in other 
lands whose hearts will cherish the remembrance of 
what we forget. Thousands beyond the Atlantic, 
wearied of oppression, are now emigrating hither, to a 
dearer land. Little do we know of the fond hopes 
that animate their bosoms, as they bid adieu to the 
home and the endearments of past years, and depart, 
like the pilgrims of old, from die land of the Egyptians, 
with its suffering-s and bondage. 

America (says Douglass) is to modern Europe what 
its western colonies were to Greece, the land of aspira- 
tions and dreams ; the country of daring enterprise, 
and the asylum of misfortune, which receives alike the 
exile and the adventurer, the discontented and aspiring, 
and promises to all a freer life and a fresher nature. 
The European emigrant might believe himself suddenly 
transported to a new world, governed by new laws, and 
finds himself at once raised in the scale of being:. The 
pauper is maintained by his own labor, the hired laborer 
works on his own account, and the tenant is changed 
into a proprietor ; while the depressed vassal of the old 
continent becomes a co-legislp.tor, and is ruler in a Gov- 
ernment v\^here all power is from the people, and in the 
people, and for the people. The world has not witnessed 
an emigration like that which is taking place to America, 
so extensive in its range, so universal in its consequences, 
since the dispersion of mankind, or pprhaps since the 
barbarians broke into the empire, when the hunter or 
pastoral warrior exchanged the lake of eagles, or the 
"dark mountains," for the viiieyards and olive-gardens of 
the Romans. As attraction in the material world is 



125 



ever withdrawing the particles of matter from what is 
old and effete, and combining them into new and more 
beautiful forms, so a moral influence is withdrawing 
the subjects of the old and worn Governments of Eu- 
rope, and hurrying them across the Atlantic, to partici- 
pate in the renovated youth of the new republics of the 
west; an influence which, like that of nature, is uni- 
versal and without pause or relaxation. And hordes of 
emigrants are continually swarming off, as ceaseless in 
their passage, and crowded, and unreturning, as travellers 
to eternity. Even those who are forced to remain behind, 
feel a melancholy restlessness, like a bird whose wing 
is crippled at the season of migration, and look forward 
to America as the land of the departed, where every one 
has some near relative or dear friend gone before him. 
A voice like that heard before the final ruin of Jerusa- 
lem, seems to whisper to those who have ears to hear, 
let us depart hence." 

Such is the emigration to a country favored above 
all others, as the home of liberty ! to a nation that 
stands the last in the long line of departed generations ! 
Of the mighty empires that, starting at the birth of time, 
were to run the course of their existence, how few, alas! 
remain. The cities of the plain are gone! Babylon and 
Ninevah have become a by-word ! b^gypt, once the 
cradle of the arts, is now their grave ! Of Greece, 
how truly has the poet said — 

" 'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more." 

The forum of ancient has become the market-house 
of modern Rome. Her capitol, that once rung with the 
triun^pbant shouts of thousands, is now the solitary 



126 



convent of the abbess and the nun, while the friar 
tell his beads beside the statue of Venus or of Jove ! 
The fountain of Egeria, Rome's oracular divinity, is 
there, but the soul that spoke its oracles is gone. The 
herbage that adorns its borders is as green as ever ; but, 
alas, there is no shepherd to breathe out his passion, 
no shepherdess to listen to his tale of love. 

And such, too, is the country we are called on to 
preserve. The world is filled with the melancholy 
relics of departed grandeur ! From the ruins of each 
fallen nation comes the voice of deep warning to 
our own. Like them we may go down in our pros- 
perity, and the place we occupy be desolate. Guided, 
then, by the admonitions of the past, let us cherish 
those firm principles of action which alone insure our 
safety ; let us honor the institutions of virtue and 
religion, left us by our fathers ! Thus shall we remain 
unharmed, and thus shall the coming days of our 
republic be even brighter than the past. 

And, above all, let us guard against contentions, 
schism, and disunion ! Pluck not a single plume, 
cripple not one pinion of the heaven-daring bird we 
have chosen as our symbol. Let his flight be still as 
far, as strong, as fearless ! Let him soar amid the full 
effulgence of a noon-day sun, and that the sun of 
liberty. Remember he was once the guardian of 
Roman freedom, and that his last mournful hoverings 
were over her departed glories, ere he plumed those 
pinioijs for another land ! 

Pluck not out one star from the rich group that 
sparkles in our country's baiuier ! Let them shine in all 
the brightness of untarnished lustre, as a beacon to the 



127 



storm- tost nations of the earth, of the home which 
they adorn. Let them shine, outshone by none save 
those bricrhter constellations of a world above ! 



128 



PAGE'S DITCHING AND BANKING MACHINE. 



The above mentioned machine is workedby the power of one horse, 
in the form as shown in the annexed cm : 

A, A, A, are the arms on which Ihe cutters are fastened to form 
the shape of the ditch. 

B, B, are receivers or filling baskets, to carry up and discharge ihe 
dirt. 

C,- a platform or shnte, to deposits t:hedirt on the bank as wanted. 

D, D, are the upright posts on which the main journal rests. 

E, E, are the wheels on which the machine res;s, to be moved for- 
ward as fast as the ditch is cut, as will be hereafter described. 

F, is the main gcer driven by G, G, G. 
H, is the long shaft connecting G, G. 

I, is the platform over which the horse travels. 

J, is the capstan. 

K, is a double and single block forming with the rope a taclde, the 
fall of which passes round the capstan, and over the pully T, along 
the side of the shaft H, under the pully U, to the hand of the conductor. 

L, is the sweep to which the horse is attached. 

M, M, are small trucks, which run upon shifting planks V, V. 

N, is the main journal, on which the arms A, A, A, are hung. 

O, O, are braces to support the post W, on which the platform C 
rests. 

P, P, are sod cutters on guide wheels. 

CI, is a tiller, to give direction to the machine. 

R, is a small leading bar, to guide the horse. 

S, S, are adjusting screws, to graduate the depth of the ditch. 

T, the pully over which the rope passes. 

U, is a small pully for the rope to pass round to the hand of the 
conductor. 

V, V, are .short planks 4 feet long, by 8 inches v/ide, and li inch 
thick, on which the machine moves to be shifted forward at pleasure. 
Two other planks are used, and the wheel on the side next to the 
gearing, as the principal weight of the machine is on this wheel. 

W, an upright post standing on main shaft N, to support platform C. 

X, X, X, X, are cutter's, to extend at pleasure from different 
widths of ditch. 

Y, is the rope to be held by the hand of the conductor, who, by this, 
can advance the machine as fast as required for each cut of the arms. 
It is to be understood that the rope is to be held fast, after one cut is 
made, long enough to advance the machine the required distance for 
the following cutter, then to be slackened so as not to advance tlie 
machine while the cutter is performing its operation. The distance of 
each cut may be determined by placing a small block immediately 
behind the sill of the machine, and pushed up at each cut of the arms. 

Z, Z, are small flat or sharp teeth, as required for the different 
kinds of soil. 

'J'hc above machine, when in complete operation, will cut and finish, 
in soft alluvial soil, 20 inches per minute, or in hard clay soil from 8 to 
12 inches per minute, a ditch of the following dimention? : 3 to 4 feet 
wide at top, 18 inches at bottom, and 3 feet deep. 




- -^ •' •'■;-''4^'^« 



iS^- 




S3 '^■S^/^^i^''i?^;'^}'f!^^i'.^^':!^^;Si^i 






' -^^iv" T.TT.T'r.' 



-C'.'i -'•'•*'*'■'••''• •''*-?*^'*^'''' ■'■-'••'■ 



APPENDIX. 



AN ACT to incorporate the Lafayette, and Danville Railroad 
Company. 

Sec. 1. Be it enacted btj the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, 
That Thomas T. Benbridge, Jacob Walker, Cyrus Ball, Nathan 
Jackson, of the county of Tippecanoe, and William Newell, of the 
county of Warren, and their successors in office duly elected as here- 
inafter directed, are hereby constituted a body corporate and politic, 
by the name and style of "the President and Directors of the 
Lafayette and Danville Railroad Company," shall be able and ca- 
pable in law and equity, to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, de- 
fend and be defended, answer and be answered unto, in any and all 
courts of justice whatsoever ; to make and use a commen seal, and 
the same to alter, change, or renew at pleasure ; and shall be able 
and capable in law to make contracts and to enforce the same, and 
to make and enforce the necessary by-laws, rules, and regulations, 
to enable them to carry into effect the provisions of this act, and the 
objects contemplated by the same, not inconsistent with the laws and 
constitution of the State. ^ 

Sec. 2. The directors named in this act, or a majority of them, 
may meet at such time in the town of Lafayette as they may agree on, 
and organize said corporation by electing one of their body to be 
president, and after such organization any three of the board shall 
be a quorum, but after an election for directors, it shall require five to 
form a quorum. 

Sec. 3. The corporation shall have power to appoint agents, clerks, 
treasurers, surveyors, engineers, superintendents, artists, and all other 
officers and servants necessary to carry into effect the objects of this 
act ; they shall keep a journal of their proceedings, in which shall be 
entered all by-laws, rules, and regulations, and all orders for the pay- 
ment of such allowances as may be made to their officers, servants, 
and all others in their employ, which journal shall from time to time 
be read by the board, and if found correct, shall be signed by the 
president ; they may sit on their own adjournments, or on the call of 

9 



130 



the president; when the president is absent, they may appoint a pres- 
ident ^to tempore: they shall fill all vacancies that may happen in their 
own body. 

Sec. 4. The capital stock of said corporation shall be five hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars 
each. 

Sec. 5. The corporation shall cause books to be opened for sub- 
scription to the capital stock, at such time, in the town of Lafa3'ette, 
as ti.ey may choose, after giving thirty days' notice in one or more 
papers published in the town of Lafayette, and if, after the books have 
continued so open for the period of sixty days, the full amount of cap- 
ital stock shall not have been subscribed, it shall be lawful for the 
corporation to open the books at such other place or places as they 
may think proper ttniil the lull amount shall be so subscribed, first 
giving the length of notice above required in some newspaper con- 
venient to such place ; in each of which books the following entry shall 
be made: " We the undersigned, respectively promise to pay the sum 
of one hundred dollars, for each share of stock set opposite our re- 
spective names, in such manner and proportions and at such time as 
"the president and directors of the Lafayette and Danville railroad com- 
pany" may direct. Witness our hands, this day of 18 ." 

Sec. 6. It shall be lawful for all persons of lawful age, for the agent 
of any corporate body, for the agent of any State, or of the United 
States, on behalf of the same, to subscribe for any amount of the cap- 
ital stock; and the books shall be kept open until the whole amount 
of said slock is taken ; after which it shall be the duty of the commis- 
sioners to close said books. 

Sec. 7. As soon as one-half the capital stock is subscribed for, and 
three dollars paid on each share, (which shall be paid at the time of 
subscribing,) it shall be the duty of the corporation to give three weeks' 
notice thereof, in one or more newspapers, and in each notice to ap- 
point a time and place for the stockholders to meet, and elect nine 
directors, who shall be stockholders and citizens of the State; which 
election shall be held wiihiu three months after one-half the capital 
stock is subscribed for, and shall be conducted by two judges appointed 
by the stockholders present; and the persons having the plurality of 
the votes given and counted in public shall be declared duly elected. 
No share shall confer a right to vole at any election, unless the same 
shall have been held one month previous to the election ; in all elec- 
tions, each share shall entitle the holder to one vole; and votes may 



131 



be given by persons owning the same, or by one of any partners, or by 
the husband, father, mother, administrator, or executor, or trustee or 
guardian, or by the authorized agent of any corporation. State, or of 
ihe United States ; or any person having a right to vote, may vote by 
proxy. And it shall be tlie duty of the directors elected as above, and 
those elected at all subsequent elections, to meet as soon thereafter as 
ihey conveniently can, and elect one of their own body president. 
The president and directors thus elected to continue in office until the 
next annual election, aid until (heir successors are elected and or- 
ganized. 

Sec. 8. All elections alter the first shall be held on the first Monday 
of October annually, under the direction of three stockholders, not 
directors at the time, to be appointed by the board at a previous meet- 
ing, or by the stockholders present ; of which election twenty days' 
notice shall be given : Provided, That if, from any cause whatever, 
there should be no election held on the day appointed by this act, or 
by the directors for the first election, it shall be lawful to hold the 
election on any other da}^ 

Sec. 9. Certificates of stock shallbe given to the stockholders, which 
shall be evidence of the stock held ; they shall be signed by the presi- 
dent, and countersigned by the clerk ; the stock shall be transferable 
on the books of the corporation only, personally, or by an agent or at- 
torney, or by the administrator, executor, trustee, or guardian ; but 
such stock shall at all times be holden by the corporation, for any dues 
from the holder thereof to the corporation, or for any sum that may 
thereafter become due, on a contract made prior to such transfer. 

Sec. 10. It shall be lawful for the said corporation to unite any other 
railroad or canal company which maybe already incorporated by this 
State on any part of the route of said road, or with any company in- 
eorporatcd or to be incorporated in the State of Indiana, or any other 
railroad or canal that is now or may hereafter be under the control of 
this State or any other of the United Slates for the making of a con- 
tinuation of the said railroad or of any other railroad from the State 
line of Illinois to the town of Lafayette, in the State of Indiana, and 
thence to any other point in the said State of Indiana, or other 
State of the Union, upon such terms as may be agreed upon witli the 
directors of said company or agents authorized to manage said rail- 
road or canal. 

Sec. 11. The said corporation is hereby authorized to construct, 
erect, build, make, and use, a single, double, or treble, railroad or way, 



132 



of suitable width and dimensions, to be determined by the said corpo- 
ration, on the line, course, or way designated by the directors as here- 
inafter provided, as the line, course, and way whereon to construct, 
erect, build, and make the same, and shall have power to regulate the 
time and manner in which goods and passengers and other property 
shall be transported, taken, and carried on the same, and shall have 
power to erect and maintain toll houses and other buildings, for the 
accommodation of their concerns, as they may deem suitable to their 
interests. 

Sec. 12. The said corporation are authorized and empowered to 
borrow any sum of money upon their own credit which, in their dis- 
cretion, may be deemed necessary, not exceeding the full amount of 
their capital stock, to aid in the construction or repair of said work, 
and in case it shall at any time appear to the said corporation that 
any part of the money so borrowed, or any paid in by the stockholders, 
or any surplus fund belonging to said corporation, is not necessary to 
be retained for immediate use, the same may be loaned on such terms 
as the directors of said corporation may, in their discretion, deem 
proper, at such rate of interest as is now allowed by the laws of this 
State to be taken for money loaned. But the said corporation shall 
in no case, either directly or indirectly, engage in any kind of trade, 
or deal in merchandise other than may be necessary to carry into ef- 
fect the objects contemplated by this act ; nor shall said corporation, 
under any pretence whatever, enter into banking business for the pur- 
pose of issuingbills of credit, or bills of any description to pass as a cii- 
culating medium. 

Sec. 13. Whenever it shall be necessary for the construction of 
their single, double, or treble railroad or way, to intersect or cross 
any stream of water or water-courses, or any road or highway, it shall 
be lawful for the said corporation to construct their way or ways 
across or upon the same ; but the corporation shall restore the stream 
or water-courses, or road, or highway, thus intersected, to its former 
state, or in a sufficient manner not to have materially impaired its 
usefulness ; and if it becomes necessary, in the construction of said 
railroad or way, to divert any water-course, the matter shall be de- 
termined as is hereinafter provided for assessing damages to the 
owners of land through which the road may run. 

Sec 14. It shall be lawful for the company hereby incorporated, 
from time to time, to fix, regulate, and receive the tolls and charges 
by them to be received for transportation of property or persons on, the 



133 



single, double, or treble railroad or way aforesaid, hereby authorized 
to be constructed, erected, built, made, and used; and to take and re- 
ceive tolls upon any part of said route, whenever and as fast as sections 
often miles are fully completed. 

Sec, 15. If any person shall wilfully do, or cause to be done, any 
act or acts whatever, whereby any building, construction, or work of 
the said corporation, or any engine, machine, or structure, or any 
matter or thing appertaining to the same, shall be stopped, obstructed, 
impaired, weakened, injured, or destroyed, the person or persons so 
offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and forfeit and pay to said 
corporation double the amount of damage sustained by means of such 
offence or injury, to be recovered in the name of said corporation, 
with costs of suit, by action of debt. 

Sec. 16. The corporation shall have power to call for such propoi- 
tions of the stock subscribed, not exceeding twenty per cent, at any 
one payment, as they may think proper, to be paid at such time and 
place as they may designate, by giving ninety days' notice in some 
weekly newspaper, printed nearest the place where said railroad may 
be commenced, or by giving written notice to the stockholders; in all 
such notices the amount on each share demanded, and the time and 
place of payment, shall be set forth; and if any stockholder shall neg- 
lect or refuse to pay such requisition, withm ten days after the time 
mentioned for such payment, the corporation may bring suit against 
such delinquent, for the amoixnt due, in any court of competent juris- 
diction, and recover the amount, with two per cent, a month interest 
thereon, for such detention, and if the amount cannot be made on ex- 
ecution, or if such delinquent is out of the State, then the corporation 
may, by an order on their books, declare such stock forfeited to the 
corporation, with whatever amount may have been paid thereon, and 
the same shall thereby be absolutely forfeited to the corporation; and 
no such delinquent, after the forfeiture of his stock, shall have the 
right to vote for directors, or receive any dividends on his, her, or 
their stock, until the corporation is fully paid and satisfied. 

Sec 17. The corporation shall require of all officers and others m 
their employ, bonds, with security to their acceptance, with such pen- 
alties as they deem proper, for the faithful discharge of their respec- 
tive duties. They shall, also, upon opening books for the subscription 
of the capital stock, appoint one of their number to be treasurer, who 
shall be required lo give said corporation bond and security in such 
penal sum as may be deemed necessary for the safe keeping of any 



134 



funds that may be paid to said corporation, and the delivery of the 
same upon demand to his successor in office. 

Sec. 18. The corporation, by their agents, shall have full power, 
from time to time, to examine, survey, mark, and locate, the route for 
a railroad, for a single or double or treble track, commencing on the 
west side of the Wabash river opposite the town of Lafayette, in the 
coimty of Tippecanoe, and running on the best ground for the interest 
of the company and convenieEce of the public, to the State line in the 
direction of the town of Danville, in Vermillion county, in the State 
of Illinois, with full power in all cases to diverge from a straight 
line, when more favorable ground can be had for the construction of 
the road. 

Sec. 19. And for the purpose of making such examination and lo- 
cation, it shall be lawful for the corporation, by their agents and per- 
sons in their employ, to enter upon any land to make surveys and es- 
timates, and for the purpose of searching for stone, gravel, wood, or 
other materials necessary for the construction of said road ; but no 
stone, gravel, wood, or other materials, shall be taken away from any 
land, without the consent of the owner thereof, until the rate of com- 
pensation shall be ascertained and paid. 

Sec. 20. It shall be lawful for the corporation, either before or after 
the location of any section of the road, to obtain from the persons 
through whose land the same may pass, a relinquishment ef so much 
of said land as maybe necessary for the construction and location of 
the road, as also the stone, gravel, timber, or other materials that 
may be obtained on said route, and may contract for stone, gravel, 
timber, and other materials that may be obtained from any other land 
near thereto; and it shall be lawful for said corporation to receive, by 
donations, gifts, grants, or bequests, land, money, labor, property, stone, 
gravel, wood, or 9ther materials, for the benefit of said corporation : 
'and all such contracts, relinquishments, donations, gifts, grants, and 
bequests, made and entered into in writing, by any person or persons 
capable in law to contract, made in consideration of such location, 
and for the benefit of the corporation, shall be bindmg and obliga- 
tory, and the corporation may have their action at law, in any court 
of competent jurisdiction, to compel the observance of the same : 
Proxided, That all such contracts, relinquishments, donations,-gifls, 
grants, and bequests, shall be fully and plainly made in writing, 
signed by the party making the same. 

Sec. 21. That in all cases where any person, through whose land 



135 



ihe road may run, shall refuse to relinquish the same, or when a con- 
tract by the parlies cannot be made, it shall be lawful for the corpora- 
tion to give notice to some justice of the peace, in the county where 
such difficulties exist, that such facts do exist; and such justice shall 
thereupon summon the owner of such land to appear before him on 
a particular day, within ten days thereafter, and shall appoint six dis- 
interested persons of the neighborhood, who shall, after taking an 
oath faithfully and impartially to assess the damages, if any, view the 
land or materials, and after having taken into consideration the ad- 
vantages, as well as the disadvantages, the road may be to the same, 
and shall report thereon, whether such person is entitled to damages 
or not, and, if so, how much, and shall file such report with such jus- 
tice, whereupon said justice shall enter judgment thereon, unless for 
good cause shown; and in case either party should show sufficient 
cause vv^hy judgment should not be entered, the justice may grant a 
review of the premises, either with or without costs : Provided, That 
either party may, at any stage of the proceedings, appeal to the circuit 
court of the proper county, as in other cases; and such court shall 
appoint reviewers as above directed, who may report at that or the 
succeeding term, in the discretion of the court. 

Sec. 32, And in all cases when the owner or owners of such land 
or materials, shall be minors, insane persons, or reside out of the 
county in which such land may be, such justice shall cause three 
notices of the application made, and of the day fixed for the appoint- 
ment of viewers, to be posted up in three of the most public places in 
the county; and if no person shall attend on the day named in said 
notice, said justice shall adjourn the same until that day two weeks ; 
at Vi^hich time he shall proceed as if such person or persons had been 
duly notified to attend, and on such judgment being rendered, and the 
corporation complying therewith, by the payment of costs or damages 
awarded against them, the corporation shall be seized ef the land 
or materials : costs shall be allowed or awarded against either paity, 
at the discretion of the justice. 

Sf,c. 23. That when said corporation shall have procured the right 
of way as hereinbefore provided, they shall be seized in fee simple of 
the right to such land, and shall have the sole use and occupancy of 
the same, but not to interfere with the right of way of any railroad 
company heretofore incorporated ; and no person, body politic or cor- 
porate shall in any way interfere with, molest, disturb, or injure, any 
of the rights or privileges hereby granted or that would be calculated 



136 



to detract from or affect the profits of said corporation: Provided, 
however, That it shall and may be lawful for said company to agree 
with any company now incorporated to cross the track of any rail or 
other road company now incorporated, and if no such agreement can 
be made, then and in that contingency, the company hereby incorpo- 
rated may apply by bill in chancery to a court of chancery of the 
proper county, who are hereby fully authorized and empowered to 
adjudicate the matter and determine the mode and manner of crossing, 
and to allow such damages, if any, as may be assessed by a disinter- 
ested jury to be for that purpose appointed by said court. 

Sec. 24. The corporation shall conamence the construction of said 
road at or near the town of Lafayette, at any time within three years, 
and from time to time construct so much thereof towards the point 
of termination as may be within the ability and to the interest of ihe 
company: Provided, That the road shall be completed within ten 
years after the passage of this act. 

Sec. 25. Half yearly dividends of so much of the profits as the 
corporation may deem expedient, shall be made on the first Mondays 
of January and July, annually, unless the directors fix on a different 
day, and paid to the different stockholders, as soon thereafter as can 
with convenience be done; but no dividend shall be made to a greater 
amount than the net profits, after deducting all expenses ; and the 
corporation may reserve such proportions of the profits as a contingent 
fund to meet subsequent expenses, as they shall deem proper. 

Sec. 26. That the tolls shall, from time to time, be reduced so as 
the dividends shall never exceed fifteen per cent, per annum upon 
the capital stock actually paid in, and a failure to so reduce the tolls, 
shall operate as a forfeiture of the charter. 

Sec. 27. It shall be the duty of the corporation to cause a full 
statement of the affairs of the company to be made and exhibited to 
the stockholders, at every annual election, or at any other general 
meeting of the stockholders. 

Sec. 28. The State, in time of war, shall have the right to transport 
troops, munitions of war, and provisions free of toll on said road. 

Sec 29. That if said road, after its completion, shall be suffered to 
go into decay, or be impassable for one year, unless when the same is 
repairing-, this charter shall be taken and considered as forfeited. 

Sec. 30. This charter is limited to fifty years in duration. 

Sec 31. Nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent 
the State from constructing or authorizing the construction of other 



137 



railroad or railroads between the same or any of the points through 
which the railroad contemplated in this act may pass. 

Sec. 32. This act to be in force from and after its passage, and it 
shall be taken to be a public actj and shall be favorably construed for 
all beneficial purposes therein mentioned. 

Ajiproved February 5, 1836. 



A JOINT MEMORIAL AND RESOLUTION on the subject of 
the Wabash and Erie canal. 

Whereas the Legislature of the State of Indiana, by an act approved 
January 28, 1836, entitled "An act to provide for a general system 
of internal improvement, has authorized and directed the extension 
of the Wabash and Erie canal to the Ohio river, the connexion of 
said canal with Lake Michigan, the construction of canals along 
the White Water and White river valleys ; together with several 
railroads and turnpikes across the interior of the State, all of which 
improvements are designed to be connected with the Wabash and 
Erie canal, and through that canal with Lake Erie ; and whereas 
the completion of the said works of internal improvement will 
augment the amount of transportation on the eastern section of ^;he 
Wabash and Erie canal, greatly beyond that which was contem- 
plated at the time said canal was commenced; and whereas this 
increase in the amount of business would seem to indicate the 
necessity of a corresponding enlargement of that part of the canal; 
and whereas a portion of said canal passes through the territory of 
the State of Ohio, and is under the control of that State, which 
creates a necessity for a co-operation between the two States ; 
Therefore, 
Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That the 

propriety of enlarging the dimensions of the eastern section of the 

Wabash and Erie canal, so that its width shall be seventy feet and its 

depth six feet, be respectfully suggested to the General Assembly of 

the State of Ohio. 
Resolved, That the Governor of this State be requested to transmit 

a copy of the foregoing preamble and resolution to the Governor of 

Ohio. 
Approved February 6, 1836. 



138 



REPORT ON THE NEW YORK CANALS. 

The following extracts from the report of Samuel B. Ruggle?, 
chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means of the Assembly of 
the Slate of New York, are richly deserving a perusal. They ex- 
hibit, in most glowing colors, the present extent and future progress of 
the commerce of the west. The passages referred to are as follows : 

" Your committee are moreover satisfied, that the speedy enlarge- 
ment of the canal (Ohio and Erie canal) is required by the best 
interests, not only of the inhabitants in its immediate vicinity, 
but by the people of every part of the State. Its annual tolls 
within a few years after it shall be completed, have been 
estimated by the canal commissioners in their recent report at 
no less than three millions of dollars, equivalent to an income 
on a capital of sixty millions. Of this large sum at least one- 
half (in the judgment of the commissioners) will be paid upon proper- 
ty passing to and from other States. It is quite evident that such an 
income will enable the State, after making the most judicious revision 
of the rates of toll, to extend its fostering aid to every portion of its 
territory, however remote or sequestered. The speedy securing of such 
a result is, therefore, an object of general importance. 

" The canal, when enlarged, will be greatly increased in value and 
power ; and in point of magnitude will be one of the most important 
works, not only of this country, but of the age. Its capacity will ex- 
ceed that of the present canal at least seven-fold, being seven feet 
deep and seventy feet wide, with double locks of enlarged dimensions 
throughout the whole line; and it will furnish the means of convenient 
transit for not less than ten millions of tons annually. The supply 
of water will be abundant and unfailing, and the enlarged size of the 
boats by which it will be navigated, will reduce the cost of transporta- 
tion nearly one-half; so that if the tolls should even be retained at their 
present rates, the saving to the community in the aggregate expense of 
conveyance, would be from one-fourth to one- third of the amount now 
paid. To effect this saving, it will become necessary, however, to 
complete the enlargement throughout the whole line, and thereby 
avoid the cost of transshipment, and in that point of view the work 
involves financial consequences necessary to be considered. By proper 
efforts the enlargement may be completed and made available within 
fiv^e years. 

"The steady progress of population and wealth of that portion of 
our State which is tributary to the canal, needs little remark,' Whether 



139 



owing to the growth of the country on its immsdiate borders, or 
to the influence of the lateral canals, in swelling its commerce, the 
tables of tonnage exhibit a rate of increase which will probably be 
maintained for many years. Although the contribution thus furnish- 
ed by this State to the revenu:;s of the canal, at the present time, is 
large, (for two-thirds of the whole of its tolls are now drawn from the 
trade of our own people,) yet the amount becomes relatively unimpor- 
tant, when compared with the enormous results we are hereafter to 
derive from our commerce with the west. Let us then advert briefly 
to the present extent and future progress of that commerce, and the 
probable efiect which it is hereafter to produce upon our fiscal afiairs. 

" The western termination of the Erie canal looks out upon Lake 
Erie, the most southerly and central of that great chain of navigable 
lakes, which stretches far into ihe interior from our western boundary. 
Around these inland seas, a cluster of five great States is rapidly 
rising. 

" This group of inland States has two outlets for its trade to the 
ocean ; one by the Mississippi to the Crulf of Mexico ; the other through 
Lake Erie and the navigable communications of this State to the At- 
lantic. "Whether it be attributable to similarity of origin, or laws, or 
habits, or to ties of consanguinity, or superior salubrity of climate, 
this people evidently prefer the market in the Atlantic, and they are 
making prodigious efforts to reach it. Three great canals, (one of 
them longer than the Erie canal,) embracing in their aggregate length 
about one thousand miles, are to connect the Ohio with Lake Erie ; 
while another deep and capacious channel, excavated for nearly thirty 
miles through solid rock, unites Lake Michigan with the navigable 
waters of the Illinois. In addition to these broad avenues of trade, 
they are also constructing lines of railroads, not less than 1,500 miles 
in extent, in order to reach with more ease and speed the lakes, 
through which they seek a conveyance to the seaboard. The undaunt- 
ed resolution of this energetic race of men is strikingly evinced by the 
fact, that the cost of the works which they have thus undertaken, (and 
most ofwhich are in actual progress,) will exceed forty-eight millions 
of dollars; a sum far exceeding all that New York, with two millions 
of inhabitants, and two hundred years of accumulated Avealth, has 
ever attempted. The circumstance, moreover, is particularly impor- 
tant, that the public works of each of these great communities are ar- 
ranged on a harmonious plan, each having a main line supported and 
enriched by lateral and tributary branches, thereby bringing the in- 



140 



dustry of their whole people into prompt and profitable action, while 
the systems themselves are again united on a grander scale, in a series 
of systems, comprising an aggregate length of more than 2,500 miles, 
with Lake Erie as its common centre. 

" The various portions of this vast work are now in a train of rapi.i 
construction. Indiana alone has 6,000 men in her employ; and Ohio, 
Illinois, and Michigan, are making correspondent efforts; so that it 
maybe confidently predicted that, within seven years from this time, the 
whole inland trade of that broad region round the lakes, will crov/d 
the entrance of the Erie canal on its way to the Atlantic. 

" And here it may be proper to remark, that the whole of the ton- 
nage to be furnished by these communities, whatever may be its bulk, 
will pay a transit duty to this State for the whole length of the canals ; 
and will therefore yield to our treasury a revenue twice as large as a 
similar quantity of products from the districts of our own State, mid- 
way between the lakes and the Hudson. 

" And what will be the amount of this tonnage, and by what stand- 
ard shall we measure it 1 

" If we take the area and the products, and the population of our own 
State as a guide, we fall far short ; and even if we resort to more popu- 
lous nations — if we select England or France, and compare their pro- 
ductive power Tidth that of this youthful and rapidly increasing race, 
the parallel will not be complete ; for a much smaller proportion of the 
inhabitants of those kingdoms is devoted to agricultural pursuits, and 
their commerce is not wholly concentrated within any single -channel. 

" But we, fortunately, possess an adequa.te and appropriate standard 
in the Mississippi river, the great rival and competitor of the Erie 
canal, with which it is destined hereafter to hold divided sway over the 
vast trade of the west. The number of inhabitants who at present 
employ that stream and its tributaries, for the purposes of conveyance, 
is scarcely five millions, and }'^et the amount which they paid during 
the last year for transportation on its waters, was between eight and 
nine miilions of dollars. 

" The momentous question, whether the tonnage of the inland dis- 
trict under examination is to seek the Atlantic through the Erie canal, 
or descend the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, is mainly to depend 
upon the comparative cost of transportation. But when we consider 
the circuitous course of the Mississippi, and the loss of time in ascend- 
ing its strong current, and the greater rapidity of communication pre- 
sented by the Atlantic route; when we advert, moreover, to the ample 



141 



•<-olume and trifling lockage of tlic enlarged canal ; and especially 
when we estimate the commercial effects of the navigable passage 
opened by the Hudson through the Alleghany ridge, we shall perceive 
thai, when the artificial communications now constructing by these in- 
terior States shall be put in full operation, the cost of transporting 
agricultural products from the interior of this district will not materi- 
ally vary, whether carried to the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico. The 
inference, then, may safely be drawn, that whenever a population of 
five millions around these western waters shall resort to the Erie ca- 
nal for the means of conveyance, they will supply it with an amount 
of tonnage equally great with that now transported on the Mississippi 
by an equal number of inhabitants. 

"It is estimated that the agricultural products which annually descend 
the Mississippi and its tributaries, have already reached $-7(),000,000. 
The value of the property transported on the canals of the State of New 
York during the year 1836 is shown by official tables to be $07,000,000. 
Of that amount, it may be estimated that 850,000,000 consisted of pro- 
perty belonging exclusively to a portion of the population of this State, 
not exceeding a million and a half in number, being at the rate of 
$33 33 for each inhabitant ; and the amount which they paid for its 
transportation exceeded two millions of dollars. If the same scale of 
production and consumption shall be assumed for the population in 
the district in question, (and no reason is perceived why it should not 
be,) the six millions of inhabitants in the west who will resort to the 
Erie canal for the means of conveyance, will furnish tonnage, in ex- 
ports and imports, of at least S200,000,000 in value. The experience of 
other nations will show that this amount is not over-estimated. The food 
produced in England alone in the year 1835, by an agriculiural popu- 
lation of about eight millions, was valued by their political economists 
at S604,000,000 ; and that of France was ascertained by its Minister of 
Finance to be 5,237,000,000 of francs, or 8980,000,000. 

" But there are peculiar reasons why the proportion of agricultural 
exports of this great inland population should far exceed that of other 
nations. The exuberance of their soil, the salubrity of their climate, 
and the cheapness of their lands, (arising from the vast supply within 
their limits,) will enable them always to furnish food to every other 
portion of the continent, on more advantageous terms than it can be else^ 
where produced. Labor there reaps its best reward, and harvests of an 
hundred-fold repay its exertions; and such will always be the superior 
productiveness of this region, that when the great series of public 



142 



works shall be completed, and a bnshel of wheat on the plains of In- 
diana shall be bought within a few cents in price of a bushel in New 
England, its prodnction in New England must cease. The same cause 
will probably operate to change the culture of portions even of our 
own State; for the unequalled fertility of the west will always enable 
it to supply those products requiring richness of soil wiih a less 
amount of labor, and, consequently, at a cheaper rate than they can be 
produced W'ithin our own borders. 

" The consequences, then, of perfecting our systems of inter-commu- 
nication will inevitably be a distribution of labor, on a grand scale, 
throughout the whole northern part of the continent: the maritime 
portions engrossing the active pursuits of navigation, commerce, and 
manufactures; while this central group of agricultural States will be- 
come the common granary of the Union, and discharge the important 
duty of supplying subsistence to all the surrovmding communities. In- 
deed they have begun to perform that office. The valleys of the Mi- 
ami, the Wabash, and the Illinois, are already pouring out their over- 
flowing riches upon the cotton planting Slates below; and, although 
their power of exportation has hitherto been kept in check by their 
rapid increase in numbers, yet it is stated that, during the last season, 
exports amounting to fifteen or twenty millions of dollars descended 
the Mississippi and its tributaries, i'rom that part of the valley north of 
the Ohio, and constituting a part of the great district in question. Nor 
is this descending stream of trade wholly withdrawn from our own 
channels of conveyance ; for its proceeds find their way by a circuit- 
ous course through the canals of New York, and in that form swell the 
revenues of the Treasury : and it strikingly illustrates the value of 
the Union, in binding in bonds of mutual benefit all our commercial 
interests, both foreign and domestic, and in animating every portion of 
our various industry, that the food thus exported from the inmost re- 
cesses of the west, exchanged for cotton at the mouth of the Mississippi, 
exported in that form to the workshops of Europe, again exchanged 
for their fabrics, and brought home by our shipping to the seaports of 
the north, is at last returned through the Erie canal to the luxuriant 
valleys from which it first originated; thus revolving through the 
whole circle of our wide spread commerce. And it is only when we 
view the Erie canal as one of the mighty segments of that vast circle, 
that we can adequately estimate the importance and grandeur of its 
connexions. 

" It is necessary, also, to be apprized of the course of this trade, in 



143 



order lo explain the disparity in value which will always exist beween 
the descending and the ascending cargoes. The amount of merchandise 
now sent into the western States very far exceeds that of their proditcts 
reaching the Atlantic seaboard. An additional reason exists, it is true, 
for this diflerence. The flood of emigration which has poured into 
that portion of our country has temporarily produced so great a dis- 
proportion between its consuming and producing classes, that they 
have scarcely been able to obtain an adequate supply of food even from 
their own exuberant soil. Population has outstripped production ; and 
their agricultural products, instead of seeking a market in the eastern 
portions of the Union, have beea sent westward in large quantities into 
the upper lakes ; and so active is the movement throughout all that 
region, that more than four hundred vessels, during the last year, 
reached the port of Chicago, at the southernmost extremity of Lake 
Michigan. So long as this great influx of population shall continue, 
the present capacity of these interior States to supply tonnage for the 
Erie canal will be necessarily diminished; but the effect will be only 
to augment more enormously their eventual power of exportation, and 
thus the present temporary check is but adding increased energy to 
those causes, which are operating with concentrated force to swell our 
future commerce. 

" The progress in population of that portion of this inland territory 
immedia,tely adjacent to the lakes, has been three times as great as its 
progress in the portion adjacent to the Ohio. The ratio of increajie in 
the former, between the years 1820 and 1830, (as shown by the 
census,) was 130 per cent., and in the latter only 44 per cent. ; and the 
comparative rales since that time have not, probably, lessened. And 
this circumstance explains why so large a surplus should have been 
furnished for exportation from the section near the Ohio, in compari- 
son with that which has hitherto found its way from the lakes into our 
canals. The total amount of tolls, realized by our treasury in the 
year 1836, for the properly passing to and from the country surround- 
ing the lakes, was only S'385,000, or less than one-twentieth part of the 
sum paid annually for transportation on the Mississippi and its con- 
fluents. To fix the precise period when the population, now swarm- 
ing into this district, will reach the point when their power of furnish- 
ing products for exportation will begin fully to exhibit itself, is, of 
course, impracticable. The same causes which operate to diminish 
their exports, now that their population has reached to three millions, 
may not be wholly removed when its numbers shall be doubled. It is 



144 



probable, however, that before that time they will be so firmly seated 
on their productive soil, a? to be able to supply a large surplus of food 
lor export. 

" We know that the western part of our own State is increasmg in 
numbers, with considerable rapidity, and yet that it furnishes an ex- 
port of at least $20,000,000 in value. The States of the west, around 
the lakes, by the year 1845, will probably hold the same relative posi- 
tion in respect to the whole of the Erie canal, which the counties of 
New York, west of the Seneca lake, now bear to that part of the line 
east of Utica. Our trade will then be measured, not by counties, but 
by sovereign States, themselves containing their fifty counties ; and 
our revenues, then no longer dependent on the villages and townships 
scattered along the borders of the canal, will be drawn from the wide- 
spread and populous communities, inhabiting the broad expanse be- 
tween the Ohio and the lakes. 

" We obtain, then, from this view, the following facts, by which to 
guide the present inquiry : 

" That the value of the tonnage, annually transported on the canals 
of this State, being $67,634,000, and the tolls paid being $jl,614,000, 
the rate of toll is about 2 3-10 per cent, on the value of the tonnage ; 

" That this rate, increasing according to the distance from tide wa- 
ter, of the place from and to which the tonnage is transported, the rate 
paid on the western section of the Erie canal, is, probably, as high as 
four, or even five per cent. (The present toll, of 32 cents, on a barrel 
of flour worth $8, passing the whole length of the canal, is 4 per cent., 
or 5 per cent., if valued at $6;) 

" That the rate of toll, on commodities passing to and from the 
States west of Buffalo, may, therefore, be safely assumed to be equal 
to at least iuw per cent, on their value ; and it is believed that the in- 
terests of the Slate will not require a reduction of the tolls below that 
rate; 

" That a population, within this State, of one million and a half of 
inhabitants, furnished a tonnage of $50,000,000 to the canals; and that, 
therefore, the population of the States in question, when it shall amount 
to six millions, can furnish a tonnage of S'200,000,000. It may, how- 
ever, be allowed, that a considerable portion of their exports, and per- 
haps 4-lOths will continue to descend the Mississippi and its tributa- 
ries, and that 1-5 of their imports may ascend that stream. 

" We then have these results : 



145 



Descending cargoes, after deduciing 4-lOths - - - SCO,000,000 
Ascending cargoes, after deduciing l-5tli - - . 80,000,000 



Total trade 8140,000,000 



" At the present rates of toll, say at four per cent., this trade would 
yield an annual revenue to our treasury of ^5,600,000 ; and if reduced 
to two per cent., it would yield $2,800,000 ; and even at one per cent., 
(equal to two cents only on a bushel of wheat,) it would yield 
$1,400,000. 

" For these reasons, then, the committee have come to the conclu- 
sion that the estimate of the canal commissioners, that the tolls of the 
canal, when enlarged, will, at the present rates, pay annually three 
millions of dollars, and that one-half of that sum will be received from 
property passing to and from other States, is, to say the least, not ex- 
aggerated. 

" It will be observed, that many of the views which are above taken 
of the future magnitude of our inland commerce, will be applicable to 
the two lines of railroad which are to traverse our territor}' from the 
Hudson to Lake Erie. The immense effects which these wonder- 
working instruments of commerce are to produce in securing the trade 
of the west to the Atlantic States, and in binding the most distant 
portions of our country in bonds of beneficial intercourse, need not at- 
this time be adverted to. It may, however, be asserted, that these 
thoroughfares of trade and travel, so far from lessening the commerce 
of the canals, will more probably serve to secure and increase it, by 
affording the means of rapid transportation for property and persons, 
during those winter months in which their navigation is impeded, and 
thereby preventing the diversion into other channels of those more 
bulky products which furaish to canals iheir most lucrative revenues. 

" Regarding the event as not improbable, that the State, at no dis- 
tant period, will take these great lines of railroad as public property 
and that they are eventually to become a portion of our system of 
public works, of which all the parts will mutually sustain and strength- 
en each other, the growth of the west in swelling their revenues is not 
a matt,er of inditference to the public treasury. 

" The committee will not trespass upon the attention of the House, 
by expatiating upon the grandeur of the prospect which would open 
upon us, were wc to look beyond the brief period which the present 
view has embraced. It is for the philanthropist and statesman to in- 

10 



146 



dulge those feelings of honest hope and pntriotic pride, which cannot 
but arise, in contemplating the mighty realities which the future has 
in store. 

" They will not attempt to measure the consequences Avhich the 
completion of a great and harmonious system of intercommunication, 
extending into the uttermost recesses of the interior, and concentrating 
within our borders the trade of the most populous portion of the conti- 
nent, will produce, in augmenting the aggregate riches of our State j 
in covering its surface with opulent cities ; in swelling its commercial 
iTi'arine ; in securing its political supremacy ; and in enlarging, in all 
respects, its prosperity, power, and glory. Nor will they seek even to 
compute the pecuniary results which this vast and ever-increasing 
stream of inland trade, flowing through our territory for all future 
time, will produce in augmenting the wealth of its commercial metro- 
polis. The history of Venice, in its palmiest days, stretching her long 
line of islands and colonies far into the East, and controlling, by her 
position, the commerce of Asia, presents but a feeble picture of the 
splendor and riches which our own great mart must eventually attain. 

" Nor will they seek to span, within their narrow arithmetic, the pe. 
cuniary value of the illimitable west. Were they to state that, from 
an assessed value in 1798, of only twenty-six millions, for all the vast 
territory west of the mountains, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to 
Lake Superior, wealth has arisen and been created within the short 
space of forty years to the amount of twelve hundred anillions of dol- 
lars, they would have attained only the first step in that long series, by 
which an empire is to ascend to a height of power and dominion which 
the world has not yet witnessed." 



AGRICULTURE AND USEFUL ARTS. 

Tlic Committee on A g? {culture, to ivliom were referred so muck of the 
report of the Commissioner of Patents as relates to agriculture, and 
also a resolution of the House of Representatives of March 5, 1838, 
on the same subject, report : 

That they have had the same under consideration, and have come 
to the unanimous conclusion that some legislative action in the premises 
is imperiously demanded. Agriculture, manufactures, and com- 
merce, have been considered the three great interests of our country; 
yet it is a strange and singular fact , that whilst millions upon millions 



147 



of the public treasure, drawn in a great measure from the agricultu- 
ral portion of the community, Lave been expended to protect, 
preserve, and promote the interests vested in manufactures and com- 
merce, scarcely a dollar has been appropriated, either directly or 
indirectly, to advance the interests of agriculture: and this fact is 
the more striking when it is considered how large a majority of our 
whole population is engaged in the cultivation of the soil, and that pro- 
bably eight-tenths of the Representatives in Congress are elected by that 
most worthy and substantial, yet most unobtrusive and retiring class 
of our citizens. The committee make these remarks in no unkii|^ 
feelings towards the commercial and manufacturing classes of our 
community; but, on th*T contrary, they regard them and their eflorts 
to elevate the character and promote the interests of their country as 
worthy of all praise ; and whilst they complain that so little has been 
done for the interest of agriculture, they would by no means intimate 
that too much has been done for our manufactures and commerce ; 
yet the committee would draw from these facts the conclusion that, 
as so much has been done for two branches of our national interests, 
any measure calculated to promote the third, and, as your committee 
believe, the most important branch, ought to meet with favorable and 
liberal consideration from Congress. The extent of our country 
and the variety of climate and soil are such as to invite to the pro- 
duction of almost every article that will promote the comfort and 
convenience and even the luxury of man, and render us, in the 
utmost extent of the term, the most independent nation on earth; yet, 
although our " lines are fallen in pleasant places," and we have 
a "goodly heritage, ' and the bountiful hand of our Creator has scat- 
tered over the face of the earth, in rich profusion, seeds and plants 
of every variety, as there is a peculiar adaptation of each of these 
productions to some particular climate or soil, our great advantages 
will be of little importance, unless we are enabled to avail ourselves 
of them. And it is a fact too well known to require argument or 
illustration, that many plants which are of little account in their 
native soil, increase in variety and luxuriance, and become of im- 
mense value, by cultivation in a foreign climate : thus, the potato, which 
now furnishes food for millions, was a few centuries ago imported 
into Europe merely for its beautiful flower; and the cotton-pla7it, 
which now furnishes the rich staple of a large portion of the Union 
was scarcely known in our country fifty years ago. It is true, indi- 
vidual efiort may do something in this matter, and the increased in- 



148 



feresl which is felt by intelligent individuals throughout the Union 
U) elevate the character and importance of agriculture may, through 
societies and other laudable means, do still more; yet the utmost 
efforts of individuals and societies are feeble and powerless, compared 
with even the incidental action of Government, which, with its Argus 
eyes and Briarian arms, may see at a single glance whatever will 
tend to benefit any and every portion of our country, and be enabled 
to collect from every part of the world, and scatter through each sec- 
tion of the nation, seeds and plants so adapted to our own soil and 
cfimate, as will greatly enlarge our productive industry, and diffuse 
plenty and happiness throughout the community. An effort of this 
kind by the General Government would not only be thus directly 
beneficial to the people, but would have a most salutary influence in 
raising the spirit and standard of agriculture, promoting sound intel- 
ligence amongst its votaries, and in giving a spur and energy hitherto 
unknown to the first and noblest occupation of man. It would incite 
the citizens of the old States, instead of a,bandoning their own sunny 
fields and the scenes of their earliest and dearest associations, to at- 
tempt, by the cultivation of some new article, to resuscitate their old 
wornout lands, which, by a continual succession of the same crops, 
have become, in a measure, unproductive and valueless. 

The committee take great pleasure in adverting to the Treasury 
circular of September 6, 1827, requiring our foreign consuls and naval 
otiicers to colled and transmit to this country, valuable seeds and 
plants which might come under their observation abroad; but they 
have to lament that hitherto no effort has been made by Congress to 
give effect and value to an enterprise so nobly begun ; and although 
our officers and citizens abroad have shown a praiseworthy zeal to 
promote the enlightened views of the Government, by collecting and 
transmitting valuable seeds and plants, yet, as there was no place 
designated for their reception, and no person charged with their pre- 
servation and dissemination, they have, in many instances, been suf- 
fered to perish, after they had reached our own ports and custom- 
houses; and but for the attention called to the subject by the present 
enlightened Commissioner of the Patent Office, the old practice of 
importing seeds to perish would still be continued. Your committee 
have, therefore, thought proper to report a bill, placing this whole 
matter under the charge of the Commissioner of Patents and such 
individuals as may be employed under him, and making a small 
appropriation, sufficient to cover the necessary expenses of the under- 



149 



taking, leaving it to the future wisdom of Congress to enlarge upon 
the plan, until, if thought desirable, an agricultural depository and 
establishment may be eventually erected here, at the capital of a great 
and free nation, that will do credit to her citizens, and rival the boast- 
ed establishments of Europe. Your committee have also thought 
proper to require that the Commissioner should make an annual re- 
port to Congress of his proceedings under the proposed act, embodying 
notices of valuable improvements in agriculture and in agricultural 
implements, atid such statistical and other useful matter that may corns 
under his observation, as may tend to prevent frauds and speculation, 
and the excessive importation of foreign grain, and diifuse a general 
information on the subject-matter throughout the whole country. 
Sach a document your committee believe would be looked for with 
great interest, and be attended with the most happy and beneficial 
results to every portion of the community. Your committee, there- 
fore, respectfully recommend the adoption of the bill accompanying 
this report, which appropriates the sum of $5,000 for the collection 
of seeds and plants, and the establishment of an agricultural deposi- 
tory in the Patent Office, and requiring the Commissioner gratitui- 
tously to distribute throughout the Union, the seeds and plants collected, 
and to make to Congress an annual report on the subject. 



EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMIS- 
SIONER OF PATENTS, January 1, 1838. 

Ii is worthy of remark, that the provisions of the late law author- 
izing the reception of unpatented models and specimens of 
manufactures, will do much to increase the collection at the Patent 
Office. No exhibition in Europe, it is believed, can surpass that 
which will be found, in process of time, in the building now in a 
coarse of preparation for this establishment. The benutiful collec- 
tions of manufactured articles at the temporary fairs of our large 
cities may give a faint idea of that great gallery of arts and manu- 
factures, which will thus be permanently opened at the seat of 
Government, where all that is new and interesting will be added 
from year to year, and carefully preserved. Interest and patriotism 
v/ill combine to multiply the articles deposited. 

The exhibition will be continually increasing in beauty and utility; 
and all this, so honorable and advantageous to the country, will be 



150 



accomplished without any other expense lo the public than the trifling 
charge of transportation from the place of manufacture. 

The Patent Oflice has been greatly subservient to the promotion of 
the arts and sciences, and its late reorganization will extend, in a 
much higher degree, its usefulness. Without the encouragement of 
ihe patent laws, few inventions would become practically useful. 
By this encouragement, a stimulus is given to talent and ingenuity, 
and the result of human effort seems almost incredible. The inven- 
tions of the day have proverbially overcome time and space. The 
numerous manufactories spread over all the country, attest the 
patronage they have received from Government. 

Of late, however, inventors have directed their attention, with 
peculiar interest, to the improvement of the implements of agricul- 
ture, and iHany labor-saving machines have been patented, which 
are of the highest utility to the husbandman. These are rapidly in- 
creasing; and it is scarcely possible to conjecture to what extent the 
labor of the agriculturist may be diminished, and the products of the 
country increased, by these improvements. 

Already, the process of sowing, of mowing, and of reaping, is 
successfully performed by horse power; and inventors are sanguine 
in the belief (and probably not without reason) that the time is not 
far distant when ploughing machines will be driven by steam, and 
steam-power applied to many other operations of the husbandman. 
Implements of this kind will all be collected and exhibited at the 
Patent Oflice, and, from the resort of thousands to the seat of Govern- 
ment during the session of Congress, a knowledge of their use and 
practical application will be extended over the whole country. A 
subject intimately connected with this, is the aid which husbandry 
might derive from the establishment of a regular system for the 
selection and distribution of grain and seeds of the choicest varieties 
for agricultural purposes. 

For commerce and manufactures, much has been done; for agri- 
culture, the parent of both, and the ultimate dependence of the nation, 
much remains to be done. Husbandry seems to be viewed as a 
natural blessing, that needs no aid from legislation. Like the air 
we breathe, and the element of water, which sustain life, the pro- 
ductions of the soil are regarded by too many as common bounties of 
Providence— to be gratefully enjoj-ed, but without further thought or 
reflection. Were the two lormcr susceptible of the same improve- 



151 



ment with the latter, who would not rejoice to enrol his name high on 
the list of philanthropist?, by making the iirst experiment 1 

This subject has been forced on the attention of the undersigned by 
those who are engaged in improving our implements of husbandry. 
The Patent Office is crowded with men of enterprise, who, when 
they bring the models of their improvements in such implements, are 
eager* to communicate a knowledge of every other kind of improve- 
ment in agriculture, and especiallynew and valuable varieties of seeds 
an^ plants. Hence, the undersigned has been led to receive and dis- 
tribute, during the last two years, many articles of this kind which 
have been committed to his care 5 and experience has induced him 
to believe that there is no spot in the Uaion so favorable to this object 
as the seat of Government. 

The great desideratum at the present time seems to be, that some 
place should be designated and known as the depository of all articles 
of this kind, and from whence they may be dispensed to every part of 
the United States. 

Our citizens who are led by business or pleasure into foreign coun- 
tries, and especially the officers of our navy and others in public 
employment abroad, would feel a pride in making collections of 
valuable plants and seeds, if they could be sure of seeing the fruits of 
their labors accrue to the benefit of the nation at large. But, hitherto 
they have had no means of distributing, to any extent, the valuable 
productions of other climates, which patriotism or curiosity has led 
them to introduce into our country. To a great extent, they have 
perished on their hands, for want of some means of imparting to the 
public the benefit they had designed to confer. Those who have not 
considered the subject in its wide details, are very imperfectly quali- 
fied to judge of its importance. 

The introduction of a new variety of wheat promises the most 
gratifying results in securing that important and indispensable pro- 
duction from the destructive effects of our severe winters. 

A short time since, the most eastern State of our Union was, in a 
measure, dependent on others for her bread stuffs. That State is 
now becoming able to supply its own wants, and will soon have a 
surplus for exportation; and this is effected by the extensive introduc- 
tion of spring wheat. Among the varieties of this wheat, however, 
there is great room for selection: there is at least 20 per cent, difier- 
ence, if regard is paid to the quality and quantity of the crop. 

From experiments made the last summer, there can be no doubt 



152 

thai the crop of Indian corn may be improved at least one-third, wilh- 
t)Ut any extra labor; and this effected by a due regard only to the 
selection of seeds. 

And here it may be mentioned, that an individual has devoted 
twenty-five years to this single object; and, from our common Indian 
corn, has produced a new variety, which, if distributed as it ought to 
be, may prove a great benefit to the husbandman and to the country. 

From the samples transmitted to the Patent Office, especially from 
the shores of Lake Superior, there is a moral certainty of a good 
crop of corn in the higher latitudes, if proper attention is paid to the 
selection of seeds. Inattention to this subject has lost to the northern 
portion of our Union many millions every year. The quantity of 
flour (wheat, or other kind) consumed in the United States is esti- 
mated, on the highest authority, at five thousand five hundred mil- 
lions of pounds: one-half of this is supposed to be wheat, which, at 
three cents per pound, amounts to over eighty millions of dollars ; 
and the remainder, at one and a half cent only, amounts to over for^y 
millions. If to this be added the vast quantity distilled and employed 
m the arts, and consumed by domestic animals, a conception may be 
formed of the importance of our crop of grain. If, then, the quantity 
should be increased only 10 per cent, by improving the seed, the annual 
gain to the country, from this source alone, would not be less than 
from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars. It is unnecessary to carry 
out this estimate to the other productions of the vegetable kingdom; 
the result would be the same in all. The well directed efforts of a 
few years might give to this generation what would not otherwise be 
enjoyed in the present century. 

It may not be improper to add, that, if this nation should desire to 
make her metropolis the seat of science and the arts, this might be 
easily accomplished. The collections of raineralogical specimens 
from every section of our widely extended territory, will, it is believed, 
furnish a most interesting exhibition, illustrative of the geology of 
the country, and of its mineral resources. 

The natural and practical sciences, as well as the arts, have usually 
found their best patron in the munificence of a wise Government. An 
apartment in the new building could be appropriated to the above 
object, in connexion with an agricultural depository. 

The undersigned will be pardoned for offering these considerations 
in favor of agriculture, as they have been forced upon him in the 
discharge of his official duties; and as Congress has required him to 



153 



make such suggestions, respecting the interests committed to his care, 
as may seem important to the public good, he will continue to do all 
in his po-\ver to promote the secondary, though important, object 
which has thus become, in some degree, connected with the Patent 
Office, in the full belief that Congress will find it for the public m- 
terest, either now or at some future period, to give a more definite 
character to the measures which have thus been commenced for this 
most important object. 

Very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

HENRY L. ELLSWORTH, 

Commissioner of Patents. 
Hon. James K. Polk, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 



Patent Office, Washington, February 23, 1838. 

Sir: In compliance with your request to designate the mode of ac- 
complishing the views suggested in my annual report respecting agri- 
culture, I would respectfully observe, that the object first to be 
embraced is the introduction and distribution of new varieties of 
seeds. Some valuable seeds may be collected from our country, but 
most must be imported. There' seems scarcely any limit to the 
undertaking, since there are so man}' exotics or exotic species to be 
introduced; nor will the number ever lessen. Present varieties will 
no sooner be cultiv^ated here, than others of superior kind discovered 
abroad. 

The sexuality of vegetables is not a novel doctrine, though .ately 
established upon the basis of logical induction. 

Who has not noticed the admixture of different species of grain, 
liy sowing the same in contiguous situations? It is no longer doubted 
that the vegetable, as well as animal world, can be equally improved 
by "crossing." Agriculturists are pursuing this process more exten- 
sively in Europe than in this country; and in Europe, also, 
the finest kinds of seeds are more carefully selected for culti- 
vation. In this country, however, something has been done. 
A gentleman of IVIaryland (iVlr. Baden) has raised a new 
variety of prolific corn, simply by attending to the selection of the 
best kind for twenty-five years. The stalk of corn that yielded, 
iwenty-five years ago, only a single ear and a "nubbin," now yields 



154 



I'rom five to eight ears. It is deeply regretted that this corn carnct 
be raised in the higher latitudes. Should, however, pains be taken 
to mix ihp pollen of this kind with that of early Dutton corn, the 
prolific and early qualities can be combined. 

I will not, however, enlarge upon this point, and only introduce 
these remarks lo show the encouragement to continued efforts. No 
one who has reflected much on the subject now before the committee 
can estimate the advantages. To accomplish the object suggested, 
an appropriation of a few thousand dollars will be needed. 

The force required to conduct this branch of the Patent Office will 
be a scientific agriculturist, one well qualified to discharge the duties 
of correspendent, examiner and classifier of seeds; and one or two 
laborers, to take care of the seeds when received, and pack up the 
same for distribution. It is impossible to estimate exactly the amount 
required for the purchase and transport of the seeds. This would 
depend upon the extent of eflbrts used, and also the degree of gratuity 
in the distribution. 

The means to be employed will be our navy, our diplomatic corps, 
and numerous citizens now residing abroad. 

Reciprocal exchanges with foreign agricultural societies will aid 
much. 

For the first year I would propose the following appropriations : 
The agriculturist ..--.. .$1,600 

For two laborers, $400 each - - - - - 800 

For contingencies for purchasing and distributing, and 

records .---... 2,600 



$^.5,000 



It will be the endeavor of this office to present a collection of the 
different kinds of grain and seeds raised in our country, with the 
■weight, production, qualitj^, and place of gathering the same. It is 
thought, also, that by the aid of the agricultural branch of this ol^ce, 
the Commissioner of Patents could annually report a tolerably 
accurate amount of the respective agricultural products of this 
country. This information is highly important to Government, and 
will secure the needy against the unjust speculations of the monopolist, 
founded upon a belief of scarcity, when there is a plenty in the land. 
I will not, however, enlarge; the subject is new, and vvill grow in 



155 

importance, while our main dependence for food is from the culiivatiou 
of the soil. 

I lierewith transmit a copy of a letter received from Mr. Baden, 
which proves conclusively what may be done for the improvement of 
our present varieties of grain. 

I humbly trust the suggestions made in my report will meet the 
favorable views of the honorable committee. May I add that I have 
received many ardent letters, expressing a hope that Congress will 
act liberally and promptly in the matter. 

I remain, most respectfully, yours, 

H. L. ELLSWORTH. 



BADEN CORN. 

Patent Office, January 30, 1837. 

Sir: Hearing of some great improvements that had been made ia 
the common corn, I addressed a letter to Mr. Baden, a highly respect- 
able gentleman in Maryland, to ascertain what facts I could on the 
subject. 

His letter is very interesting, and I transmit you a copy of it. This 
experiment of Mr. Baden shows most clearly what can be done to 
improve seeds, by carefully selecting each year the best kiiid raised. 
Theoretical opinions sustain Mr. Baden ; but few experiments have 
been tried so successfully. What might be efiected for agriculture by 
similar efforts'? 

The like efforts, in improving the breed of animals, have been 
crowned with great success, especially in Europe. I avail myself of 
this opportunity to send you a small sample of the corn mentioned by 
Mr. Baden. I will only add, that I have conversed with several 
persons who have planted the " Baden corn," and the concurrent 
opinion of all sustain the statements made in the letter. I have a few 
samples, at the Patent Office, of corn raised in this neighborhood, 
which have four and hve ears on a stalk; and I expect soon some stalks 
containing six, seven, and eight ears. If this corn were generally 
introduced, how greatly the amount of bread stufis might be increased, 
without any extra labor. I hope some public spirited citizens Avill try 
to improve wheat, oats, barley, and other grains. 

I avail myself of the opportunity to mention the introduction of the 
Italian spring ivhcat, with great success. A friend of mine in Co n- 



156 



nec'iicut laised, the last year, forty bushels on an acre. This grain is 
heavy, makes good flour, yields well, and the crop avoids all the danger 
of winter freezing. I have ordered a quantify of this corn and wheat 
10 be shipped to Indiana, and intend to try both on the fine soil of the 
Wabash valley the ensuing summer. 

I am yours, \'-ery respectfully, 

H. L. ELLSV\^ORTH. 

N. B.— Be careful to plant this corn in a place by itself. When 
good seed is planted in a field with poor seed the former will degen- 
erate. 



[Copy of Mr. Baden's letter.] 

Near Nottingham, Prince George's county, 

January 26, 1837. 
Sir: I received yours of the 14th, making inquiry respecting the 
" Maryland corn," which you understood I had raised. I have the 
pleasure to say, that I have brought this corn to its high state of per- 
fection, by carefully selecting the best seed in the field for a long course 
of years, having especial reference to those stalks Vi'hich produced the 
most ears. When the corn was husked, I then made a reselection, 
taking only that which appeared sound and fully ripe, having a regard 
to the deepest and best color, as well as to the size of the cob. In the 
.spring, before shelling the corn, I examined it again, and selected that 
which was the best in all respects. In shelling the corn, I omitted to 
lake the irregular kernels at both the large and small ends. I have 
carefully followed this mode of selecting seed corn for Uoenty-hvo or 
ticenty-threc years, and still continue to do so. When I first com- 
menced, it v/as with a common kind of corn, for there was none other 
in this part of the country. If any other person undertook the same 
experiment, I did not hear of it. I do not believe others ever exer- 
cised the patience to bring the experiment to the present state of perfec- 
tion. At first I was troubled to find stalks with even two good ears on 
them, perhaps one good ear and one small one, or one good ear and a 
" nubbin." It was several years before I conld discover much benefit 
resul ing from my efforts ; however, at length the quality and quantity 
began to improve, and the improvement was then very rapid. At 
present I do not pretend to lay up any seed without it comes from stalks 
\vhich bear four, five, or six ears. I have seen stalks bearing eight 
ears. One of my neighbors informed me that he had a single stalk 



157 

with ien perfect ears on it, and that he intended to send the same to the 
museum at Baltimore. In addition to the number of ears, and of course 
the great increase in quantity unshelled, it may be mentioned that it 
yields much more than common corn when shelled. Some gentlemen, 
in whom I have full confidence, informed me they shelled a barrel 
(ten bushels of ears) of my kind of com, which measured a liltte more 
than six bushels. The comxaaa. kind of corn will measure about five 
bushels only. I believe I raise double, or nearly so, to what I could 
with any other corn 1 have ever seen. I generally plant the corn about 
the first of May, and place the hills five feet apart each way, and have 
two stalks in a hill. I can supply you with all the seed you may need, 
and I suppose I have now in my corn-house fifty, and perhaps more, 
stalks with the corn on them as it grew in the field, and none with less 
than four, and some six or seven ears on them. I will, with pleasure, 
send you some of these stalks, and also some seed corn, if I get an 
opportunity. 

Early last spring, I let George Law, Esq., of Baltimore city, have 
some of this seed corn. He sent it to his friend in Illinois, with in- 
structions how to manage it. A few weeks since he informed me that 
the increase was one hundred and twenty busMls on an acre ; that there 
was no corn in Illinois like it, and that it produced more fodder than 
any other kind. I have supplied many friends with seed corn, but 
some of them have planted it with other corn, and will, I fear, find it 
degenerate. 

I have lately been inquired of if this corn was not later than other 
kinds'? It is rather earlier; certainly 7iot later. Corn planted in 
moist or wet soils will not ripen so quick as that which is planted on 
a dry soil. In the former there will be found more dampness in the 
cob, although the kernel may appear equally ripe in both. In the last 
two years the wet seasons have injured much corn that was too early 
" lofted," or housed. 

1 believe I have answered most of your inquiries. I hope I have 
not exaggerated; I have no motive for doing so. I raise but little 
corn to sell, as tobacco is my principal crop. Should I fail to send 
you some seed this spring, I will next summer gather some stalks with 
the corn, fodder, and tassels, and all as they grow, and send to you, 
that you may judge yourself of the superiority of this over the com- 
mon kind of corn. 

Yours, &c., 

THOMAS N. BADEN. 
Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, 

■ Commissioner of PaUnls, Washington City. 



158 



Patent Office, January 1, 1838. 
Sir: I have received another letter from Mr. Baden, and take 
pleasure in communicating the same. Allow me to add, that the ex- 
periments tried the last season show that Mr. Baden's variety uf corn 
flourishes well in latitudes south of Pennsylvania. Some trials have 
been successful in New Jersey, and on Long island; and, in a few 
years, this valuable seed might be acclimated in the northern States. 
Yours, respectfully, 

H. L. ELLSWORTH. 



Prince George's county, Maryland, 

Near Nottingham, November 4, 1837. 
Dear Sir: Agreeably to promise, I now write you a few lines to 
inform you that, within the last two years, (and never before,) there 
has been a report in circulation, that my corn was a later kind. How- 
ever, for the satisfaction of my friends, I have made an experiment 
this year, which, I hope, will satisfy every one upon that point. I 
planted a lot of six acres and a half, (as near as I could judge by step- 
ping,) of this kind of corn, the 20th of May last. My book is now 
before me. I cannot be mistaken in the date, which is more than a 
month later than the common time of many persons planting in this 
neighborhood. I gave it no extra management to hurry its growth, 
and determined to give it only the common routine of work that I 
generally give my corn. It is now perfectly ripe and hard, and has 
been for some time, and no frost could do it any injury in any way, 
and I believe it will yield as much good sound corn to the acre as any 
that was planted in the neighborhood any time in April, upon land of 
the same quality. This evidently shows that my corn is a forward 
kind, and will come to maturity as soon as any other. By the first 
opportunity, I will send you a few stalks of this corn that was planted 
the 20lh of May, and also some that was planted the 1st of May, with 
the corn on them, as it grew in both the lot and field, and none with 
less than four, and some with seve?i and eight good cars on the stall: ; 
then I will leave you to judge which of them Is the better. As soon 
as it is sufficiently dry to shell and put up, I shall send you twenty or 
thirty bushels of as good seed corn as you have ever seen, I have not 
long since discovered something in this corn, which convinces me that 
I can still make a great improvement on it, by addingmuch to the quan- 
tity and quality of the grain on each stalk. I am now persevering in 



159 



my eiforts, and intend to raise a large crop every year in its purity, to 
supply all who may apply for it for seed. I have been frequently re- 
quested to give a statement of my mode of planting and cultivating 
corn. As the planting and cultivating of corn is so generally under- 
stood, I deem it almost unnecessary to say anything upon the subject; 
but, to satisfy the wishes of such friends as think they can profit by it, 
I willingly give it. I first pulverize my land well by good ploughing, 
and lay it ofi" five feet apart each way. By the 1st of Ma}', or a few 
days sooner if the weather is warm, I begin planting; roll my corn 
in plaster, and drop three grains in each hill . As soon as 1 have done 
planting, I set to ploughing one row and leave two, and harrow over 
the field in this way as soon as possible, to prevent the corn from wash- 
ing up in case of heavy rain, which sometimes happens. Then I 
plough the other two rows at my leisure. As soon as the corn is gen- 
erally up, I go over and replant all the missing hills. When the corn 
shows well along the rows to see how to plough, (perhaps when it is 
six inches high or thereabout,) I then commence ploughing the second 
time. The best ploughman commences siding with the bar-side of his 
plough to the corn, and goes as close to it as he can, and throws the 
dirt from it. The other ploughman follows on, to plough up the mid- 
dle of the rov/s. Their first furrows throw back and fill up the side 
furrow, w^hich leaves a soft fresh bed for the young roots to run in. 
As soon as the field is ploughed in this way, I put the hoes in to clean 
out the hills and to place a little soft dirt around the corn, and, at the 
same time, to thin it so as to leave two of the best stalks in each hill. 
The third time of ploughing I turn the mould-board to the corn, and 
go near enough to throw the soft dirt around the stalks ; that will 
answer the purpose of hilling, and also to cover and smother the grass 
that may be springing up on the hills. The fourth time of ploughing 
over the field I don't go so near the corn,nor quite as deep, (in particular 
the first furrow,) for fear of cutting the roots ; and my wish is never 
to let it exceed ten days between the times of ploughing over the field. 
By this mode of working, the corn has always a soft fresh bed to grow 
in, and always has a healthy, thriving appearance, and I don't remem- 
ber ploughing it oftener than four times, and, if the weather is season- 
able, I never miss raising a good crop. I never let the suckers exceed 
a foot or eighteen inches high before I pull them off"; the strength Avill 
then run in the stalks, which will cause them to grow larger, and they 
will produce more and better ears on a stalk ; the grains also will be 
larger and heavier. I have said I planted my corn five feet apart each 



160 

vr^y. By experience, I have found il lo be near enough for our lands. 
Four feet apart each way, and two stalks in each hill, is near enough 
for the richest land with this kind of corn. I like lo work my field 
over the first time after the corn comes up, and the fourth time when 
I am laying it by, with the ciiUivators; but I make no use of them in 
wet seasons. 

Yours, respectfully, 

THOMAS N. BADEN. 
To Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, 

Washington City. 

P. S. — I can ship any seed that may be ordered each week to Balti- 
more, if a few days are excepted when navigation is interrupted by 
the ice. 



BUTTON CORN. 

Patent Office, March 12, 1838. 
Sir: I have the honor to transmit a small parcel of Duiion corn, 
which is admirably adapted to all the sections of the United States 
where the crop is exposed to early frost. 

This corn can, doubtless, be raised in every part of New England. 
It is productive, and will yield from fifty to seventy-five bushels per 
acre, if well managed. Extracts from several letters received by 
Judge Buel, of Albany, together with his own opinion, are sub- 
joined. 

I am, veiy respectfully, 

Your obedient serx'ant, 

H. L. ELLSWORTH. 



Fairfield, Onro, September 19, 1837. 
J. BuEL, Esq. : The Dutton corn you sent me by order last spring to 
Philadelphia, came to hand about the 20th May. Some of the corn 
was planted as late as the 1st June, and is now sufiiciently ripe to cut, 
while the corn we have been in the habit of planting from the 10th to 
the 15th May, remains soft, owing to the wet and coldness of the sea- 
son. From the appearance of the Button corn, it will suit our climate 
better than any other variety we have had, or been in the habit of 

planting. 

Yours, 

M. MENBENHALL. 



161 



Selin's Grove, August 15, 1837. 
J. Buhl, Esq. : I am much pleased with the appearance of the Dution 
corn. I have planted it on four farms already, with other corn. It is 
now in full ear, whilst that which is planted along side, is not b)'- two 
or three weeks so far advanced. On the farms, its growth is quite 
dwarfish, compared with our other corn ; but 1 have a lot of about one 
and a half acre, near my house, planted with Dutton, which stands 
full seven feet, if not more, full of fine ears ; a majority of which have 
not 12, but from 14 to IG rows of grain. Much of it now is too hard 
to boil. 

Yours, very respectfully, 

H. W. SNYDER. 



PfflLADELPHu, September 23, 1837. 
Dear Sir: Early last spring, you shipped to me, at my request, a 
box of Dution corn. I was induced to give it a trial, by the various 
favorable accounts of it in the " Cultivator," and the reputation it had 
otherwise acquired. The result of the trial is accurately stated in the 
annexed note, and may be relied on. The appearance of the crop in 
July, so early and so prolific, was gratifying to all Avho saw it. The 
applications for seed are so numerous, that I shall dispose of the whole 
crop for that purpose. 

Very respectfully, 

W. L. HIRST. 
Hon. J. BuEL, Esq. 



" Blockley Grove, near Philadelphia, Sept. 16, 1837. 
" I planted the Dutton corn in a thin orchard, of two and a half 
acres, preparing the ground by ploughing in the green sward and har- 
rowing; no manure was applied. The seed was steeped, and rolled 
in tar and ashes, and planted about lour and a half feet each way, the 
first week in May. I used the cultivator twice; on the 4th July, the corn 
was in silk, and fit for cooking in the first and second weeks in Au- 
gust, but it was suffered to ripen on the stalks, and cut close to the 
ground early this month. The fodder is very tender and excellent. 
The yield is about seventy bushels to the acre. The main crop on the 
farm is the yellow gourd, but the Dutton is far superior ; one hill of the 
11 



162 



Dutton yields more than three or four of the gourd, alihopgh tlie gourd 
seed was the best that could be procured. The two kinds of corn did 
not intermix ; the fields were remote, and the Dutton too early. 

"DAVID BURMAN." 

P. S. — I trust you will not cease to press on the public the expedi- 
ency of generally raising this species of corn; the crop is admirable, 
and even astonishing; the field, when the corn was nearly ripe, looked 
as if it was all cars ! 

W. L. H. 

Note. — We plant 3 by 2* fe«t, and get 5,808 hills on the acre. Our 
correspondent planted about 4j each way, and had but 2,151 hills. 
Thus we obtain 3,657 hills, or more than 2| to his one on an acre, and 
yet he obtained 70 bushels, without manure. We introduce this com- 
parison to explain to incredulous readers the cause of our northern 
corn crops being sometimes deemed incredibly large. It is, however, 
to be borne in mind, that our corn is comparatively of dwarf growth, 
and will bear crowding more than the southern varieties. 

We beg here to remark, that there is a hUe twelve rowed corn, 
whu-h has been mistaken and sold for the Dutton, particularly in Berk- 
shire county, Massachusetts. It grows stouter and taller than the 
Dutton, and ripens two or three weeks later. — Co7id. Cultivator. 



The public have very generally seen a letter from the Hon. H. L. 
Ellsworth, on the cultivation of the prairies. This letter Avas written 
nearly two years since, and much that was prophesied then, with re- 
gard to labor-saving machines, is already accomplished. Our experi- 
ence confirms the statements of Mr. Ellsworth, and we avail ourselves 
of the opportunity to annex tlws interesting letter, with another from 
Mr. Newell on the same subjects : 

Washington, January 1, 1837. 

Dear Sir: You doubtless expect some further statement than has 
been received respecting the investment made for you in the valley of 
the Wabash. And now let me say, generally, that the west has grown, 
and will continue to increase beyond the most sanguine calculations. 
Nor will any action of the General Government materially check the 
advancement of the lands which are judiciously located on the great 
western canals or railroads. Very little is yet known of the valley of 
the Wabash. Although the fertility of the soil is unequalled, still few 



163 



hoLve ever seen this country. The reason is obvious : there is no com- 
munication with it, and hence speculators and settlers have passed 
around it going west, either by the Michigan lake, or by the Ohio and 
Mississippi rivers. 

Five thousand persons left Buffalo in one day to go up the lake, and 
yet not one went into the valley of the Wabash. A slight inspection 
of the maps of Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, will show a direct route to 
the Mississippi, from the west end of Lake Erie, to be up the Maumee 
and down the Wabash valley to Lafayette. It may therefore be con- 
sidered certain, that when the railroad from St. Louis to Lafayette is 
completed, the great travel from the Mississippi valley to the east, will 
be by the lakes through the Wabash and Erie canals, the shortest and 
quickest route by several days. A person at the mouth of the Ohio, 
will pass up to St. Louis, then take the i-ailroad and canal to Lake 
Erie, in preference to following the meanders of the Ohio river in a 
steamboat. Can there be a doubt on this subject 1 What time will be 
occupied on this route to New Yorkl Not exceeding six days. From 
St. Louis to Lafayette, (240 miles,) one day may be allowed ; from 
Lafayette to the lake, at the rate of 4j to 5 miles per hour, on the 
canal, (now in operation considerable part of the way,) 48 hours; on 
the lake, 24 hours ; and from the lake to New York city, via railroad, 
(now commenced,) not exceeding two days. 

What changes this must make in the value of properly on the route ! 
The value of land depends on the fertility of the soil and the facility 
of transportation. From a personal inspection of the western States, 
during six years past, I am fully convinced the Wabash valley has 
the best soil and most favorable climate. In the latitude of Philadel- 
phia, you avoid the extreme of great heat in summer, and of cold in 
winter, and also the danger of early frosts, so prevalent in a higher 
latitude. You may ask, what will be the markets for Indiana 1 I 
answer. New York and New Orleans. The former by the Erie canal, 
and the latter by the Wabash river, (navigable to Lafayette for steam- 
boats,) and by the railroad abovenamed to St. Louis, also to Montreal 
by the Welland canal. A choice of all these markets, equally acces- 
sible, is presented to farmers on the Wabash valley, and one peculiar 
advantage this valley possesses over Michigan and Wisconsin, is the 
early navigatisn of the Wabash river. The produce of this valley 
can, by this river, pass down to New Orleans in flat boats, free of loll, 
and be transported to Charleston, Baltimore, New York, and Boston, 
six weeks before the New York canal opens. This early market may 
be estimated as a good profit in business. 



164 



You may ask if the Wabash and Erie canal will surely be com- 
pleted 1 Undoubtedly it will. Indiana and Ohio are pledged to 
complete it. Nearly all is now under contract, and Government 
has o-iv^en lands adjoining sufficient to finish the same wUhout any ex- 
pense to the States. 

As like causes (other things being equal) produce like effects, it will 
not tax your credulity to believe, that the rich lands of the Wabash 
valley will equal those on the Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania 
canals which vary from $25 to S60 per acre. Is it possible that lands 
yielding 40 bushels of wheat, 70 bushels of corn, 60 bushels of oats, 
and 450 bushels of potatoes, and with only 10 to 12 days' transpor- 
tation from New York or New Orleans cities, can be less than $30 
per acre % 

I am sure there has been a common error to pass the rich prairie be- 
cause timber could not be found adjoining at Government price. Under 
this belief, many settlers have, to their sorrow, entered the timber and 
left the prairie, because they supposed nobody would enter that without 
possessing the timber. This prairie has been lately entered. And 
such is the facility of raising timber on prairies by sowing the seed of 
black walnut and locust, that the desire for timber land has diminished. 
Those who doubt the comparative value of prairie and timber land, 
wnll do well to consider that ^\2 is a fair price for clearing timber 
land. Timber land, when cleared in the usual manner, is left en- 
cumbered with stumps and roots, fatal obstacles to labor-saving ma- 
chines. S12,000 will be required to clear 1,000 acres of timber land; 
whereas, the 1,000 acres of prairie can be put into tame grass without 
ploughing. 

A prairie farm may be put in complete cultivation at from $3 75 to 
S9 per aere, according to the computations of my son Edward, who has 
been extensively engaged in cultivating the prairie for the last year. 
The annexed letter from Mr. Newell will give much valuable infor- 
mation on this point. 

Prom a personal examination of the lands in France and on the 
Wabash valley, I feel no hesitation in pronouncing the latter decidedly 
the best for the beet sugar manufacture. In France, eight, ten, and 
twelve dollars per acre, are paid for rent, and 3'et great profits are 
made. An acre of good land will yield 44,000 pounds of sugar beets, 
from which 2,400 pounds of sugar can be extracted, which, at 10 cents 
per pound, amounts to S240 per acre. 

In England paper is now made from the residuum of beets, after the 
saccharine matter is extracted. An application for a similar patent is 



165 



now pending in the Patent Ofiice. The sample of paper exhibited is 
very good, and the rapidity with which the paper is made must mate- 
rially reduce the price of this article. Many labor-saving machines 
are introduced to aid in the cultivation of new lands. In a few year^t 
it is probable that plougliing on smooth lands may be effected by 
steam ; and even now mowing and reaping are successfully done by 
horse power. 

Such are the profits of cuUivati'm, that I would advise all who can, 
to improve some part of their lands. A small improvement will 
repay expenditures, and greatly enhance the value of the whole in- 
vestment. 

Three benefits may be expected : 

1st. The crops will repay expenses and yield great profit. 

2d. The land cultivated, and the land adjoining, will be advanced 
several hundred per cent. 

3d. If stock is put on the farm, the same may be numerically in- 
creased, and greatly enhanced in value by improving the breed. 

Either of these considerations is sufficient to justify cultivation, and 
guaranty a large return. I might mention the successful cultivation of 
hay in the west; from one and a half to two tons is a fair crop. This 
can be cut and pressed without any labor-saving machines, for $2 per 
ton ; and if the grass was cut by horse power, the expense would be 
still less. The profits on 100 heifers, at $5, can be easily supposed. 
Fifty breeding sows would probably give 700 pigs per annum ; and by 
these means a large farm could be stocked with little capital advanced. 

Hay at New Orleans varies from $20 to $50 per ton. An average 
for the last three years may be $30. The cost of floating down hay in 
fiat boats to New Orleans, may be .^'8 per ton. 

If, therefore, 1,500 or- 2,000 tons of hay could be cut on 1,000 acres, 
would it not be a profitable crop "? 

There is a practice mentioned by Mr. Newell, and highly recom- 
mended by others, of putting in hay seed without ploughing the ground. 
This is done by burning the prairie grass in the spring, and harrowing 
in the seed. The seed catches quick and grows well. Blue grass, 
especially, succeeds in this way, and will sustain stock all winter 
without cutting any hay or fodder for them. A large drove of 
horses were kept last winter at Indianapolis on blue grass, on the open 
fields, at the small expense of SI per head per month. 

From personal examination, I am convinced that ditching and 
hedging, as practised in Holland, England, and France, almost en- 



166 



tirely, and now successfully adopted in Illinois, is cheaper than fenc- 
ing by rails. 

The general coniplaint of the earth crumbling by frost, is prevented 
by sowing blue grass-seed on the .sides of the ditch. Mulberry trees 
might be raised on the slope with great profit. Indeed, such is the rapid 
growth of the mulberry in these rich prairies, that land purchased 
at SI 25 an acre, and planted ivilh these trees alone, would in a few 
years be highly valuable. Such is the extent of the prairie, that 
wood land will always be valuable for timber. The wood land is 
also rich, and fine for cultivation; and if trees under a certain diameter 
are cut, a fine grazing farm may be easily made, and the good timber 
preserved. Similar pastures are found in Kentucky; these yield $3 
profit per acre, annually. It may be asked, how can non-residents best 
cultivate their lands'? I would remark, that it is customary to rent land 
(once broke and fenced) for one-third of the crops, delivered in the 
crib or barn. At this rent the tenant finds all. 

I would advise to employ smart, enterprising young men, from the 
New England States, to take the farm on shares. If the landlord 
should find a house, a team, cart, and plough, and add some stock, he 
might then require one-half the profits of the same. I would advise 
to allow for fencing or ditching a certain sum, and stipulate that the 
capital invested should be returned before profits were divided. A 
farmer could in this way earn for himself from S700 to $1,000 per 
annum, on a lease for five years. 

The second year a mowing machine might be furnished, if 100 
acres were seeded dcwn to tame grass. Mast for swine is found in 
great abundance, and the number of hogs could be easily increased tO' 
1,000, by adding to the number of breeding sows. 

Corn is so easily raised, that it is found advantageous to turn the 
hogs into a field of this grain without gathering it. It has long been 
the practice in the State of New York, to raise oats and peas to- 
gether, and turn in the swine to harvest the same when ripe. Ex- 
periments this summer in Connecticut, show a great profit in raising 
spring wheat and oats together, and feeding out the same to hogs. 
I have omitted to say, that good bituminous coal is found in the 
valley of the Wabash. The veins are from five to ten feet thick, and 
a large wagon load will supply one fire for a year. Salt, also, is 
manufactured in large quantities, and superior in quality to the- 
Kenawha salt. 



16T 



Farmers in Illinois and Indiana are now successfully enclosing their 
lands by ditching, which has cost from 50 to 75 cents per rod. 

The laws of the States of Indiana and Illinois compel the owners 
of lands adjoining to pay one-half of fencing, whenever they make 
use of, or derive any benefits from, the fences of their neighbor. This 
lessens the expense of fencing one-half. 

If it be asked, what are the profits of cultivation ] I answer, if the 
land is rented for five years, the profits accruing during this period 
will repay the capital advanced in the commencement, with 25 per 
cent, interest per annum, and leave the farm worth S20 per acre at the 
expiration of the lease. Probably the profit would be much greater. 

Yours, respectfully, 

H. L. ELLSWORTH. 



Danville, November 12, 1836. 
Dear Sir: Your favor of August 30th was duly received: and in 
answer to your inquiries, I can say, that — 1. '• Does your prairie land 
bear good wheat 1" None can hardly be better. 2. " How is the best 
way to improve prairie land?' Answer. By ploughing it in the 
months of May, June, and July, with a plough peculiar to this country, 
which cuts a furrow two feet wide, and commonly three inches deep, 
upon which sod corn, oats, wheat, and most kinds of grain grow well 
the first year, and with no further labor in ploughing. 3. " How much 
wheat, corn, or oats, do you realize per acreT' The first year or so, 
of wheat commonly 30 bushels-, oats, 40 bushels; corn, 30, &c. &c. 
The second year, more of corn and oats, and not much of wheat. 

4. "Do sod crops do well 1" They generally are fine, in a good season. 

5. "How much grass on an acrel" I can't say, but over two tons, 
when well set. 6. " Can blue grass be harrowed in on the turf 1" It 
can, and does well. 7. " Can herd's grass also: is this the best wayT' 
It can also, and this is the best way. 8. " Is your country good for 
hogsT' Not so good; it is too cold— yet there is good pork made 
here. * 9. " Can you keep cattle on blue grass V They are kept by 



* Reference is here made to [he prairies, which have no shelter for 
hogs. In the woods adjoining, hogs live all winter on mast, and thrive 
well. The Wabash valley is famous for its hogs— I have kept a hrge 
herd of swine this past summer on the prairie. Timber will soon be 
planted, or sheds built, and then pork can be most easily raised on 
these lands. 

H. L. E. 



168 



some all winter on blue grass, if the snow is not too deep. 10. "Is 
your prairie good for beets V It is the best for all garden stuli that I 
have ever seen, and there can be none better. U. " Is there coal near 
youl" The coal beds here are inexhaustible; they are found almost 
on every considerable creek, and perhaps as much in Vermillion 
county as any in Illinois. 12. "What is the price of cattle now?' 
About S4 per cwt., and higher now than formerly, owing to the great 
emigration and demand for them ; and from the rapid settlements, they 
■will not be lower, most likely, for years. ]3. " How do ditch and turf 
fences do?" As yet I have seen none upon the right plan, but a ditch 
and sod sown with blue grass, I have no doubt will answer every 
purpose, instead of fence. 14. "What is the comparative expense of 
rail fence and ditching 1" That depends upon the distance you haul 
the timber. But ditching may, by proper arrangements, be done cheap. 

You ask me further, whether I can furnish blue grass seed 1 I can 
to the amount of sowing 200 acres per year, price SI per acre. This 
seed can also be got at Louisville and Cincinnati. 

You have the goodness to say, that I may add any information in 
my possession. I do it cheerfully, believing that we have one of the 
finest countries in the United States. JVly experience here in farming 
has not been inconsiderable. 

The prairie grass is an excellent substitute for tame grass, if it is 
well cured and cut early. This grass, early in the spring, is equal to 
any pasture in the old States, and some have said better ; but when it 
becomes hard, in August and September, it is of little or no account. 
A man and two horses can plant and tend 40 acres of corn on the 
prairie, when the sod is well rotted; and as an average crop, there will 
be 50 bushels per acre, and sometimes more. Oats grow finely, and 
yield from 50 to 70 bushels, on ground well tended. I think, also, 
there is no country superior to ours for hemp and tobacco ; at least 
none of the southern States in which 1 have been. 

Sheep do as well here as in Kentucky, even on the prairie grass. 
I need hardly add, that this country is peculiarly adapted to the raising 
of mules, horses, and cattle, and they can be raised cheaper here than 
any State in which I have been — 50 per cent, at least, I will say. 

Fruit trees that I have tried have grown remarkably thrifty, and 
perhaps faster than in most countries; which is the case of all trees. 
I have growing from the seed, black and honey locust, sugar, and 
walnut trees, ash, and hickory — those of nine 3'ears' growth are nine 
inches in diameter. My pear trees, about nine inches long when 



169 



planted, produced fruit the sixth )'ear. My apple trees, from the 
seed, produced the fifth year, and some of the trees this year, (the 
ninth year,) yielded me twenty bushels to the tree. I will not forget 
to mention that flax also is luxuriant in its growth here. 

You have said that you have the sugar beet seed, and profier to send 
me some, which will be most acceptable. I would like some of the 
hedge thorn for experiment also. 

I live adjoining your land, and have eight persons in my family; 
and during this and four )''ears past, have had none sick in my family. 
This, perhaps, comprises all you ma)'' wish to know about our de- 
lightful country. 

1 have the honor of being yours, 

JAMES NEWELL. 

To Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, 

Washington City, D. C. 



LETTER FROM JOHN WILKINSON, ESQ. 

Syhacuse, New York, May 7, 1838. 

Dear Sm : I have received yours of the 1st instant, making some 
inquiries as to railroads, which it gives me pleasure to answer, as far 
as in my power. 

We are now engaged in the construction of the Syracuse and Utica 
railroad, which is fifty-two miles long. It follows, in the main, the 
line of the canal, but is nine miles shorter. The canal is level, con- 
structed most of the way upon the margin of low land. Upon twenty 
miles of the distance we have decided to drive piles, and have now, 
in very successful operation, four steam piling machines, which are 
substantially upon the plan of the machine for which Captain Smith 
Cram obtained a patent. There are now about four miles driven, and 
they present the most perfect grad? that can be conceived. There 
would seem to be no doubt as to their excellence and fitness, if tliey 
can be made to endure, and I am well convinced that we can make 
them last a long time by sailing them, and making provision to 
renew the supply of salt as necessary. 

The structure upon piles will cost about SlOO less per mile than on 
a graded road, as the longitudinal sills are saved. 



170 



The piles ready to receive the structure well driven, will cost us 
from SI, 500 to $2,000 per mile. To grade in the common form, 
would probably cost, on an average, nearly double that. 

Piles will not be disturbed by the frost, nor thrown out of level. 

From this place to Auburn, twenty-six miles, a railroad has been 
graded, and a good superstructure laid down, upon which it is intended 
to lay flat iron bars as soon as the iron can be obtained. In order to 
have the earliest practicable use of the road, the company put on hard 
maple rihbo7is last fall, about three inches wide, and one and a half and 
two inches thick. These were united together, and spiked on instead 
of flat iron bars. Smce then the road has been run regularly, and is 
now passed over six times per day. The road answers a very good 
purpose. Horse power alone is used upon it. Steam power, I pre- 
sume, could not be used over it. The ribbons wear very well, and 
I have no doubt they will stand for three or four years. 

You inquire how cheap a road could be built for temporary use. 
This depends very much upon the kind of business for which it is 
intended. If for passengers, then the requisite speed will require an 
accuracy of line, of level, and of work. If for heavy transportation, 
sitch as timber, lumber, logs, &c., I believe one answering a good 
purpose, upon level ground, might be built very cheap. I have heard 
of one for drawing out saw logs, that cost, for a mile, $800 only. So 
great accuracy in levelling is not required, and I should, in such a 
case, employ carpenters, letting them adjust the grade to the surface 
as far as practicable. Undulations are of little consequence. 

In making such a road, I think the plan is to take the common 
timber of the country, and cut it into logs of eight feet long, and lay 
them along your line, six or eight feet apart, like cross-ties. Cut a 
row of gains in them, and then take also the common timber to lay 
lengthwise, hewed to a level surface on one side only, (the top,) and 
squared where the gains come, so as to fit in them. You then have 
two rows of timber flattened on the top like the common sills of a 
frame barn. Then put on these timbers, along the centre of them, 
hard wood ribbons, two by three or four inches, spiked down, and the 
road is done, except to fill in a horse track, which is done by throwing 
in from the side. The plan is simple, strong, and cheap, and I think 
will well answer the purpose. 

I lliank you for your report and the specimen of corn, which I shall 
try upon our soil. I look upon your suggestions as of the highest 



M 

M 



IM-ofZd WfMrxOt 



;g^ 




REAPING 



Manuuictural by the T^tartee mJ\ 
/i/iem acrf^:^ o//i'^<m/ Wheat -n a\ 
andh/iin as ^ocd order for iindX 




171 



consequence, and calculated, if carried out, to expand and improve 
our agricultural productions to an extent unsurpassed. 

Any information in my power to communicate, I shall at all times 
be happy to furnish. 

Very respectfully, 

Your most obedient, 

JOHN WILKINSON. 
H. L. Ellsworth, Esq., 

Commissioner of Patents. 



HUSSEY'S GRAIN CUTTER. 

Report of the Board of Trustees of "the Maryland Agricultural Soci- 
ety" for the Eastern Shore, on the machine for harvesting small 
grain, invented by Mr. Obed Hnssey, of Cincinnati, Ohio. 
' The favorable accounts of the operation of this implement in several 
of the western States, induced the board to invite Mr. Hussey to bring 
it to Maryland, and submit it to their inspection. It was accordingly 
exhibited in Oxford, Talbot county, on the first of July, in presence 
of the board, and a considerable number of other gentlemen. Its per- 
formance may justly be denominated perfect, as it cuts every spear of 
grain, collects it in bunches of the proper size for sheaves, and lays it 
straight and even for the binders. On the 12th of July, a public ex- 
hibition was made at Easton, under the direction of the board; several 
hundred persons, principally farmers, assembled to witness it, and ex- 
pressed themselves highly satisfied with the result. At the Trappe, 
where it was shown by the inventor on the following Saturday, an equal 
degree of approbation was evinced. It was afterwards used on the 
farm of Mr. Tench Tilghman, where 180 acres of wheat, oats, and 
barley were cut with it. Three mules of medium size worked in it 
constantly, with as much ease as in a drag harrow. They moved with 
equal facility in a walk or a trot. A concise description of this simple 
implement, will show that it is admirably adapted to the important 
purpose for which it was invented. Resting on two wheels, which are 
permanently attached to the machine, and impart the motion to the 
Avhole, the main body of the machine is drawn by the horses along the 
outer edge of the standing grain. As the horses travel outside of the- 
grain, it is neither knocked down or tangled in the slightest degree. 
Behind the wheels is a platform, (supported by a roller or wheel,) 



.,aof£J }f''-^('-^^^'=''"-' 




REAPING MACHINE 







172 



which projects beyond the side of the machine fi\^e feet into the grain. 
On the front of the edge projecting part of the platform is the cutter. 
This is composed of twenty-one teeth, resembling large lancet blades, 
which are placed side by side, and firmly rivetted to a rod of iron. A 
lateral motion is imparted to it by a crank, causing it to vibrate between 
two rows of iron spikes, which point forward. As the machine ad- 
vances, the grain is cut and falls backwards on the platform, where it 
collects in a pile. A man is placed on the part of the platform directly 
beliind the horses, and with a rake of peculiar construction pushes off 
the grain in separate bunches, each bunch making a sheaf. It may 
appear to some that the grain will accumulate too rapidly for this man 
to perform his duty. But, upon considering the difference between 
the space occupied by the grain when standing, and when lying in a 
pile after it is cut, it will be evident that the raker has ample time to 
push off the bunches even in the thickest grain. In thin grain he has 
to wait until sufficient has collected to form a sheaf 

The machine is driven around the grain, which may be sowm either 
on a smooth surface or on corn ridges. For the first round away may 
be cleared with a cradle ; but this is deemed unnecessary, for the grain, 
when driven over, is left in an inclined position, and by cutting it in 
the opposite direction as much of it is saved as with a cradle. Four- 
teen acres in corn lands were cut between 10 a. m., and 7k p. m. Tiie 
hands had never worked with the machine before, nor was it a trial 
day's work; for, owing to the shortness of the straw, the machine was 
not allowed to cut when passing over the ridges from one side of the 
ground to the other, and this time was consequently lost. From the 
principle on which the cutting is performed, a keen edge to the cutter 
is by no means essential. The toughest weeds, an occasional corn 
stalk, or a stick of the thickness of a man's little finger, have been 
frequently cut without at all affecting its operation; it can be sharpen- 
ed, however, in a few minutes with a file. The width of the swath 
may be increased by having the cutter made longer, and the same 
machine will cut a stubble of several different heights. 

There is ample room to make the different pans of any size, though 
the strength of every part has been fully tested. The machine has 
been often choked by oyster-shells getting into the cutter, in attemptiiig 
to cut too low a stubble. The motion of the machinery beingchccked, 
the main wheels slide on the ground; the strain on every part being 
equal to the power exerted by the horses. It can be managed b}'' any 
intelligent, careful negro. We deem it a simple, strong, and effective 



173 



machine, and take much pleasure in awarding unanimously the meri- 
torious inventor of it a handsome pair of silver cups. 

ROBERT H, GOLDSBOROUGH, 
SAMUEL STEVENS, 
SAMUEL T. KENNARD, 
ROBERT BANNING, 
SAMUEL HAMBLETON, Senr., 
NICHOLAS GOLDSBOROUGH, 
EDWARD N. HAMBLETON, 
JAMES LI. CHAMBERLAIN, 
MARTIN GOLDSBOROUGH, 
HORATIO L. EDMONSON, 
TENCH TILGHMAN. 



[CIRCULAR.] 

The undersigned have entered into partnership, by tlie name of 
Curtis and Ellsworth, for the transaction of a General Agency in the 
Wabash and Maumee valley, and opened an office in Lafayette, the 
county seat of Tippecanoe county, in the State of Indiana. They 
propose to purchase of Government and individuals, lands in Indiana 
and Illinois, for such persons as are desirous to make mvestments, and 
to take charge of the same, or of oLher lands already purchased; pay 
taxes, and, when requested, to put lands into cultivation, and gen- 
erally, to promote, in the best possible manner, the interests of their 
employers. 

They will also invest money on loan, and secure the same by mort- 
gage. The opportunities for safe investments are worthy the consider- 
ation of capitalists and guardians. By the statute law of Indiana, the 
legal interest is limited to 10 per cent., and in Illinois to 12 per ceni. 
Real estate (which is rapidly rising) can be had as collateral security, 
and the intei'est M'ill be paid semi-annually, if desired, in the Atlantic 
ciiies. They will make investments in the stock of the Indiana Bank, 
which annually yields a dividend of at least nine per cent., and has a 
large surplus. 

They also propose to secure and collect debts, for merchants and 
others, in the northern and eastern States, and to lake a general super- 
intendence of their affairs in the States of Indiana and Illinois ; and 
will, on application, examine records and titles, and communicate in- 
telligence relative to any business contiguous to their agency. A 



174 



large and constantly increasing amount of funds, rieposited to their 
credit at tlie east, by those for -whom they act as agents, afTordsimusual 
facilities in remitting money when collected. 

Both the undersigned have resided a considerable time in Lafayette, 
and become, as they believe, thoroughly acquainted with the business 
which they propose to undertake, and can noiv make investments on ike 
lines of internal improvements to great advantage. 

Government has given lands to complete the Wabash and Erie 
canal, and it is expected that the Mhole line will be finished next year, 
and then a regular communication will be opened by water to the west 
end of Lake Erie. Half the distance is now canalled, and in success- 
ful operation. The time of travel will be only four days from New 
York to Lafayette. 

When this avenue is opened, it is reasonable to expect that the 
number of actual settlers will be increased, and that lands will rise in 
value. 

It is also thought, that by spending inconsiderable sums mcuUivation, 
the lands of non-residents may be very much enhanced in value, and 
the undersigned are accordingly instructed to cultivate extensively the 
lauds of several persons. 

The richest prairie land can still be secured at Government prices ; 
and, by the aid of newly invented ditching, reaping, and mowing 
machines, it is believed that the land entered can in two years be 
made to pay, without expense to the owner, an interest of $'50 per acre. 

The undersigned will take capital to invest in new lands, and allow 
the capitalist the legal title and a deduction of 8 orlOper cent, interest, 
and divide the extra profits, which, it is confidently believed, will not 
be less than 25 per cent. more. Any quantity of land enclosed, witli 
the accommodation of a small cabin, can be rented, and one-third of 
the crops allowed by the tenant. Sixty bushels of corn, thirty bushels 
of wheat, forty bushels of oats, two tons of hay, is the usual crop. 
More can be obtained by particular attention. Corn can be raised at 
six cents per bushel by contract; and this is fed to swine, which are 
fully fattened without further trouble, by turning the same into the 
fields when the grain is ripe. Several large landed proprietors have 
hired land ploughed, and the corn planted and well attended, for S3 to 
S'3 50 per acre, and raised from 70 to 75 bushels on the same. 

The location of the undersigned gives the choice of the following 
markets, all of which are open to water navigation in about the same 
time, viz : New Orleans, by steamboat direct, Montreal, by the Lakes 



175 



and Welland canal ; also, New York and Philadelphia. It is Tvorlhy 
of particular remark, that at Lalayette the Wabash river opens an 
early market to produce, which can be shipped at small expense 
via New Orleans, to ea'itera markets, several weeks before the canals 
are open. 

They do not wish to mislead any person, or to hold out prospects 
■which are not likely to be realized. They believe that money can be 
very advantageously invested within the limits of their agency, and 
proffer whatever knowledge and experience they have to those who 
may be pleased to employ them. They will, at any rate, endeavor, 
by fidelity, industry, and activity, to accomplish the task they have 
undertaken. 

JOHN CURTIS, 
HENRY W. ELLSWORTH. 
We are permiiled to refer to 

Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, Waskingtnn city. D. C. 

Hon. T. L. Smith, do. 

Com. Charles Morris, do. 

Ramsay MTIenry, Esq., Baltimore, Md. 

Elihu Chauncey, Esq., Philadelphia. 

Evans Rogers, Esq., do. 

Hon. Joel B. Sutherland, do. 

Phelps, Dodge, & Co., Neio York city. 

Spofford & Tileston, do. 

E. M. Morgan & Co., do. 

Petit, Dunning, & Co., do. 

Suydam, Jackson, & Co., do. 

C. B. Granniss & Co., do. 

Elizur Goodrich, Hartford, Conn. 

Harvey Seymour, do. 

Solomon Porter, do. 

Rev. Chauncey A. Goodrich, New Haven, Conn. 

Hon. Gideon Tomlinson, Fairfield, Conn. 

Hon. Joseph S. Cabot, Salem, Mass. 

Hon. Wm. J. Grayson, South Cdcrolina. 
Being well acquainted with Curtis and Ellsworth, and with their 
location, I feel no hesitation in recommending this agency, which I 
am confident ^ai^be conducted with fidelity and reciprocal advantage. 

Washington city, February 20, 18387 '** '••'^ 







■0. "<> 















■'*. O'^ .>•'•♦ ''b J> C " ' Deacidifled using 'he Bookkeeper p« 

"^^ C ♦VvT^C' ^ .-J* .'jf^f; Neutralizing Agent; Magnes.um Oxid 



AUG ^ 







PBESERVATION TECHNOLOGIE 
111 Thomson Park Diive 
Cranbeny Township, PA 16066 
rrai^ 779-21 11 



..** ;:a^\ %„./ .-I^^i". ^^..<.* •■ 





























<> *'7; 



• <^ 








v»9- 








^^•n^. 








*.-^* 




'^^^'^^ 









CKMAN 

lERY INC. |§ 

^ DEC 89 

W- N. MANCHESTER, 
^ INDIANA 46962 




o V 








